The Difference
by Avada Cruimperio
Summary: Complete! Sequel up! Ryan and Marissa are meant to be together: everyone knows that. But will everything change one special night? Set after The Dearly Beloved. Major RM, some SS. Please review!
1. The Night The Sky Fell Down

Ryan rolled over and almost collided with a sleeping Marissa. He yawned and quietly got out of bed, being careful not to wake her.

It had been eventful last night, to say the least. He wanted to forget it, but he knew he never would. The sound of the gun going off, the look of pure hatred on Trey's face as he realized Marissa had shot him, the look on Marissa's face when she realized she had shot Trey.

He wasn't coming back. Ryan knew it; he had always known it. Trey was fated to meet a not-so-pleasant end, and if it weren't for the Cohen's, Ryan would have met death the same way. He was regretful that Trey was dead, and yet, he wasn't. Trey was his flesh and blood, and his brother by birth, Trey was going nowhere fast. He doubted he would ever been close again to the guy; Seth was his brother now.

Ryan sank into a chair, closing his eyes, recalling what had happened after Trey keeled over, dead.

_He crawled over to Marissa, breathing heavily. He hugged her, and she began to cry as sirens, wailing in the distance, drew closer. She sobbed into his shoulder, clutching him as if she was afraid if she let go, he would die, too. _

_Seth opened the door, and what seemed like a million policemen, paramedics, and even firemen rushed into the building. There were policemen taling on their walkie-talkies in some police code, a paramedic was inspecting Trey (Ryan couldn't see why, Trey was dead, not injured) and he finally noticed Seth and Summer, who were just staring at the scene._

_"Why us, Cohen?" she was whispering. "We're normal people, not murderers. We don't go around and kill people."_

_But she was wrong. Marissa had killed someone. _

_Marissa was still sobbing uncontrollably, until a man in a blue suit tapped her on the shoulder. "Miss, your friends and you are going to need to come down to the station with us for some questioning."_

_Still weeping, she nodded, and they followed the officer out of the door, into his car._

_Seth took the front seat, and Summer sat behind his, edging close to the car door and staring blankly out the window. Marissa took the middle, and Ryan sat down next to her. He held her hand, patted her back as she cried, wondering when he was going to wake up from this nightmare._

_If only it had been a dream. The police were trying to get her to talk, but she had finally stopped crying and refused to say another word until Sandy, who she had said was her lawyer, showed up._

_Sandy breezed through the police station door, wondering why he was here. Seth had called him and said he needed to come down there. Oh, God, was Seth in trouble again? No, that couldn't be it. He could tell something was wrong, seriously wrong. _

_He asked the first person he saw to direct him to the room where Seth Cohen was_

_"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go in there. Mr. Cohen is being inter-" the blond receptionist had began, but Sandy cut her off._

_"Listen, ma'am, I'm Seth's father." he said._

_"I 'm sorry, but-"_

_"And his lawyer."_

_"Room twenty-three, down the hall, second door on your left."_

_He barged into the questioning room. "What is going on here?"_

_Marissa looked up. "I need to talk to my lawyer." She informed the policeman._

_He nodded, and left the room._

_Marissa hurriedly explained what had happened, trying not to start the waterworks again._

_Sandy didn't look appalled, or shocked, it wasn't that surprising. He knew Trey would have eventually met some sticky end or another, he was just glad it was one that Marissa was going to get off very easily on. _

_He stepped outside to talk to the officer. "Listen, these kids have been through enough tonight already with you brainwashing them into thinking that they're criminals. Let them get some rest. I'll bring them back tomorrow."_

_"I'm afraid that won't be necessary, sir. Ms. Cooper has been charged with murder, and she'll be spending the night here."_

_Sandy sighed. "How much is her bail?"_

_"We've got her for $45,000."_

_Sandy's eye's nearly popped out of his head. He knew the money wasn't a problem, though, with Mrs. Julie I-Just-Inherited-Millions-Of-Dollars-From-My-Dead-Husband Cooper-Nichol._

_"Excuse me," he said, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed the used-to-be Nichol mansion._

_A sleepy Julie picked up. "Hello?"_

_"Hey, Jules, it's Sandy. Marissa's in a little bit of a spat with the police- no not drinking again Julie, and I need to bail her out, so can you pay me back about forty-five thousand dollars tomorrow?"_

_"Sure… $45 thousand… whatever… goodnight." She hung up._

_Sandy shook his head and wrote out a check for Marissa's bail._

_He handed the check to the officer, who told him he could take everyone home._

_No one talked in the car. He dropped Summer off, and pulled up at Marissa's house._

_"Wait," she said. "I don't want to go in right now. Could I take the guest room at your place, Sandy? Please?"_

_He could see she was close to breaking back down into a puddle of tears._

_"Sure, Marissa," he said quietly, and drove them all back to the Cohen residence. _

_Sandy and Seth headed straight upstairs for bed. _

_Marissa turned to Ryan. She didn't even have to ask. She followed him to the pool house._

_They got in bed, but neither one was tired. She turned over to face him, and they kissed. She had wished for a while now, that she had waited for Ryan before losing her virginity, but she hadn't. She hadn't done it with Ryan yet, but both knew tonight was going to be their night. _


	2. Bagels and BandAids

A/n: Yay! I got reviews! Sorry I'm so excited, but this is my first fanfic and the fact that people actually read and liked it enough to review it makes me happy, LOL.

If you liked it and want me to update, don't worry I will, but it'll be a while after this chapter because I'm going on vacation to Florida for a week.

**KC-Chick: It would probably awkward, but I'd could see Marissa being so upset and out of whack that she didn't really think about it… and also I'm guessing it reassured her that Ryan DOESN'T hate her for killing his brother… Ryan knows the one thing she needs (and has probably never had) in her life is security.**

**IluvDanBen33- Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it… and I will continue it. Defiantly.**

Ryan looked up, startled. He had forgotten where he was, what was going on. It slowly came back to him: it was the morning after, and he was sitting in a very comfortable chair in his room, on the other side of the bed where Marissa lay, asleep.

Marissa. He couldn't even begin to think how she could possibly feel, hell, he could barely feel anything himself. He was numb. He was still having trouble comprehending all that had happened since Seth told him what really happened with Marissa and Trey over spring break. Deep breaths… okay… he had gone to Trey's, gotten strangled, Marissa had saved his life by shooting Trey, the police came and tried to force a confession out of Marissa, Sandy got Riss out of jail, and she had come back here, and then… well, from then on it was so simple, yet so confusing. Why of all nights, did they pick that one? It made no sense. You'd think they'd stay away from each other after what Marissa did.

But nothing in their relationship had ever made sense; why should this? He looked at her sleeping form, and felt connected to her. It was like a strong bond had evolved when she saved his life, and nothing could change that. Ryan didn't know the word for it, and as many times as he and Marissa would try to figure it out, they never would.

Fate likes to be mysterious.

He noticed that Marissa was moving, she was thrashing wildly about in her sleep.

She screamed, and her legs kicked the air. He rushed over to her side, and woke her up.

"No! Don't shoot!" she yelled, and punched him in the nose.

Marissa blinked, and rubbed her eyes. Ryan had a little bit of blood running down the side of his nose. She gasped.

"Oh my God, Ryan, are you okay? Did I do that?" she exclaimed, jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom. Ryan could hear her rummaging around in his medicine cabinet.

A triumphant "Ah-HA!" came from somewhere near the sink, and Marissa hurried back to Ryan, holding about ten Band-Aids and some gauze. "Don't move," she instructed him. He held his head as she tried in vain to get the bandage over the ten pieces of gauze.

"It's okay," he said, "I'm fine."

"You sure?" She looked concerned.

"See, it stopped bleeding," he said. He honestly had no idea whether it was true or not, since he couldn't exactly see his nose, but it must have been because Marissa stopping trying to plaster him with the band-aids.

"Alright," she relented, and returned them to his cabinet in his bathroom.

"What were you dreaming about?" he asked, when she returned.

Her face turned cold. "Nothing. What are you talking about?"

"You were having a nightmare or something. You kept kicking and punching the air and screaming."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marissa said haughtily.

They both knew it was a lie.

"Come on," she said, changing the subject, "Let's go see what Sandy has for breakfast. Bet it's bagels!"

She took his hand and they strolled out of the pool house and into the main house, where the aroma of toasted bagels was extremely conspicuous in the kitchen.

"Morning," Sandy said as they walked into the kitchen. "Bagel, anyone?"

"I'd love one," Marissa said, pulling a poppy-seed out of the bag.

"No thanks," Ryan said, sitting down at the table. "Morning, Seth."

Seth eyed the couple suspiciously. "Something looks different about you two," he said. "Ryan… what's with the dried blood on your face?"

Marissa and Ryan exhaled mutual breaths of relief: Seth hadn't notice what really was different.

"I banged my head on the headboard," Ryan lied.

"No, wait… that's not it…" Seth said, unintentionally crossing his eyes as he concentrated.

Sandy rolled his eyes and kept spreading his bagel with cream cheese.

"I've got it!" Seth exclaimed. "Marissa, weren't you going to take the guest room last night?"

"I did." Marissa crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Then why did you come in from the pool house with Ryan?" Seth noticed the guilty look on their faces. "Mm-hmm, somebody got a little busy last night, huh, Ryan? Wanna give some details, you two?"

"Do I ask you what happens every time Summer comes over?" Ryan sighed, exasperated.

"Never said you couldn't, bro."

"You guys, shut up and eat. The bagels are really good!" Marissa interrupted, shoving hers at Ryan. "Try it!"

Ryan took a bite: it _was_ good. "Great, Riss," he commented.

She smiled. Everything seemed to be back to normal.

Not for long.


	3. It Never Really Felt Like Home

A/N: Yay! I'm back from Florida! It was so awesome to see all the reviews when I got back. I was at a family friends house for a day, and I got to write the first page and a half of this story. I tweaked a couple parts when I got back and wrote some more. Please review (and thank you so much to everyone who did)! I want to know if you all think that this chapter sucks. 

**CarebearStare: You think I should make it darker? Alright, there's not that much fluff in this section, so that's good. People were making jokes to kind of make things seem normal, because they want things to actually be normal. Hah. Like that's going to happen.**

**To everyone who wants to know what I'm going to do with Marissa's trial: I'm actually not sure how to write it, because I've never been tried for murder. Or manslaughter. Or anything involved with killing. My dad is a lawyer, which you'd think would help me write this, but he's not a criminal lawyer so I'm still totally in the dark on this. I'll try my best, though. **

They ate their bagels in silence for a while. After about four minutes of no one talking, Seth cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm, uh, going to go back head on over to Summer's now," he said, unable to bear the quietness any longer.

Sandy glanced at him. "In your pajamas?"

Seth snapped his fingers. "Right. I knew that. I'm gonna change and _then_ go over to Summer's." He stood up and beat the world record for fastest time to clear his dishes and get upstairs.

Sandy left to go change, too, muttering something about visiting the D.A's office today.

The reminder of the legal system brought Marissa and Ryan back to reality. They had avoiding the issue, and Marissa couldn't take it any longer.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.

Ryan got up and took his plate to the sink. "No."

"Ryan, we're going to have to discuss it sooner or later." Marissa picked up her plate and brushed the crumbs into the garbage.

He loaded his plate into the dishwasher. "Later, then."

She followed suit, tossing her plate next to his. "You're avoiding it. Ryan, if we don't talk about it now, we never will. And you know it. So let's make this easier on ourselves and get it over with!"

He slammed the dishwasher door shut and faced her. "Why do we need to talk about it, huh? We already know what happened, so why do we need to go over it again? It already happened, Marissa, so let's just forget about it."

"Forget about it? Ryan, this is going to follow us for the rest of our lives. I killed someone, Ryan. Not just anyone, but/ your brother." She was close to sobbing now. "What are you going to do if I go to jail? What's going to happen to us?" She fell into his arms, tears running down her face.

He had been all set to give her a short, snappy answer back, but one look at her and he couldn't. She was destroyed by what had happened, he knew it. He could have blamed her for Trey's death, he could have pointed his finger and told her off.

But he didn't. He knew he never could. If he did that, it would weigh him down forever. Here was a girl that loved him enough to kill someone to save his life, and what was he doing? Standing there, patting her back. He was in eternal debt to her, and he had to do something about it.

He stroked her hair. "Shh, it's going to be all right," he said. He felt rather odd; it was completely unlike him to do that. But maybe it wasn't. Things had changed in that short while since last night, and he was sure they'd never be the same again.

He stroked her hair again. "It'll be okay, I promise." he whispered. "I love you."

She took her head out of his shoulder, and looked him in the eye. "You mean it?"

He nodded.

"I love you, too," she whispered back, and kissed him.

At that exact moment, the kitchen door opened, and in strolled none other but Julie Cooper, clad in a black and beige suit with matching sunglasses.

"There you are, Marissa!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you. Where have you been all night? What have you been up to?"

"Since when do you care?" Marissa asked, unintentionally crossing her arms defiantly.

"Marissa, you know I care what goes on in your life."

"Uh huh. You don't give a damn what happens to me! All you care about is yourself. You never have time for anything or anyone except you!" Marissa screamed.

"Well, excuse me if now I want to be involved with my daughter's life and she won't bother to tell me anything."

"Fine. You want to know what's going on with my life?" Marissa stepped closer to her mother. "Last night, I shot Ryan's brother, saving Ryan's life, went to jail, got bailed out by the Cohen's, slept over at their place and had sex with Ryan.

Julie laughed. "Honestly, Marissa, you could have just said that you didn't do anything instead of making up a ridiculous story like that."

Marissa glared at her mother for about three minutes until the realization sunk into Julie.

"Oh, my God." Julie said slowly. "You're not lying, are you? I don't believe it. You slept with _him_?" She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Ryan.

"I'm not good enough for your daughter, is that it?" Ryan took a menacing step towards Julie.

"Well, at least he's not stupid as I thought." Julie sniffed.

"Listen, I don't know who-" Ryan began, taking another step closer.

"Don't you come near me!" Julie exclaimed, moving towards the door.

"I don't know why you have a problem with Marissa having a boyfriend, you seemed to like Luke well enough."

Julie sighed. "You know what, I don't have time for this. Marissa- you were right. I don't care what happens to you anymore. From now on, you're on your own. Get your stuff out of my house."

"So you're kicking me out?" Marissa said, trying to comprehend it all.

Julie curtly nodded. "I want everything out of your room by tonight, or else it's all going in the trash."  
She turned on her heel, and left the Cohen residence.

"Where am I supposed to go?" Marissa asked herself out loud. "I don't have enough money to rent a place. I can't-"

Ryan interrupted her. "You could stay here."

Marissa turned around to face him. "Huh?"

"We've got a guest room. Sandy won't mind; you're already practically one of the family." he said.

She hugged him. "Really? That would be great!" She let go and took his hand. "Come on, Sandy's upstairs, let's go ask him."

As they trekked up the stairs to go find Sandy, Marissa kept acting happy. But on the inside, she was falling apart. How could her own mother do that to her? She was almost a senior in high school; her mom had no right to tell her whom she could date. She always knew Julie Cooper was a coldhearted bitch, but she never thought Julie would stoop that low. Marissa got angrier as she thought about it. Marissa would have her revenge.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Sandy, who they collided with in the upstairs hallway.

"Hey, you two. What's going on?" he asked, checking his watch.

"Um, I have a favor to ask." Marissa said shyly. "My mom was just here and she kind of kicked me out of my house, and now I have nowhere to stay, so, um-"

"You want to stay in the guest room? It's fine by me. You're already practically a Cohen. You can get your stuff and move it in anytime." Sandy assured her.

"Thank you so much!" Marissa said, using her happy façade again. "I'm just going to go run over to my house and pack my stuff up."

"I'll drive you." Sandy said. "I've got to leave anyways."

Ten minutes later, Marissa was standing in front of the giant Cooper-that-used-to-be-Cooper-Nicol mansion. She sighed, and pulled her keys out of her pocket. Last time I'll ever need those, she thought.

She unlocked the door and went downstairs to the basement to find some boxes. There were quite a few left over from the last move, and she lugged them up to her room.

She began throwing loose objects into a box. A hairbrush, some makeup, her pillows and sheets all went flying in.

"It never really felt like home, anyways," she muttered under her breath as she tossed her some designer purses into a box.

A half-hour later, all that was left in the room was the furniture and the ceiling fan. She picked up one of the many boxes and tried to carry it. It was way too heavy. She dropped it, and quickly moved her foot so it wouldn't crush her toes. She snapped her cell phone open, and dialed the Cohen's.

Ryan picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. Um, I'm having some trouble moving all my stuff. Think you could help me?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. Uh, I'll be over any minute." He hung up.

True to his word, the doorbell rang seven minutes later. She ran down the stairs and opened the door for him.

"Hey." she said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Hey."

He followed her to her room, where he stared in amazement at all the boxes. "How many are there?"

"Oh, about eighteen, I think." she replied. "I'll take these." She pointed to three small boxes.

"Alright," he said, picking up one of the heavier ones and effortlessly carried it outside to her car.

Eighteen minutes and boxes later, Marissa squeezed in to the drivers seat of her car, pushing the box on the stick shift back.

She drove back to the Cohen's, and pulled into their driveway with a box this/close to falling out of the open window.

"Alright," she said, as Ryan pulled up behind her and got out of his car, "can you help me carry them all in, now, please?"

He rolled his eyes. "Okay."

They brought all of her stuff in, and dropped them off in her new room.

"Alright, well, I'm hungry, so I'm going to go see what we've got for lunch," Ryan said, disappearing off to the kitchen.

Marissa was left standing alone in the Cohen's guest bedroom, amongst what seemed like millions of boxes. She sighed and kneeled down to start unpacking.

The first box she came upon was the one she had shoved her pictures in. She pulled out an old picture, taken when she was about seven. She was missing her front two teeth, and wearing blue jean shorts overalls. She was holding her mom's hand, while Jimmy stood in back of her with his hands on her shoulders. She looked at it again and tore the photo up. That was then. This is now.


	4. At The Back Of My Mind

A/n: Marissa got reviews, Marissa got reviews! Yay! Sorry, once again I apologize for being ecstatic about the fact that people actually read what I wrote.

**KC-Chick: What you said about Jimmy not letting Julie kick Marissa out will be addressed in this chapter, don't worry. It may make a little more sense… or less. Hopefully more.**

**Kursk: Don't worry, no drama yet from the couples: I like their pairings too much to make them break up. Remember that…**

**Anyways, on with the story!**

The Cooper-Nichol Mansion

Jimmy knocked on Marissa's bedroom door. He waited for the usual "Come in!" or "I'm busy!" or "I'm changing!" but no one answered. He frowned. He hadn't seen his daughter around the house for a while now. Where could she be? He turned the knob and the door swung open.

Julie sat by the pool on a lawn chair. As she sipped her martini, she leaned back and closed her eyes. This was the life.

"The life" was interrupted thirty seconds later by Jimmy shaking her by the shoulders and demanding she talk to him.

"God, what do you want? Can't a woman just tan and relax?" She sat up, irritated.

"Where the hell," Jimmy said through gritted teeth, "is our daughter's belongings?"

She sighed. She had known that this was coming; Jimmy wasn't _that_ stupid enough to not realize Marissa had moved out. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"All that's left in her room is her bed and her vanity. No clothes, no sheets, no cosmetics, nothing. Where is it? Where is she?" Jimmy shook her again, as if the answer to his questions would spill out of her somehow.

"Well, obviously she's not here." Julie tried.

"I don't want to know where she isn't, I want to know where she is!"

"To be honest, dear, I have no idea." Julie said, convincing herself it wasn't really lying, she didn't know where Marissa was staying.

"Oh, don't give me that crap. Maybe you don't know where she is, but you know why she's not here!"

"I thought you wanted to know where she was. In fact, you specifically said, 'I want to know where she is.'" Julie lay back down.

"Tell me what you know." Jimmy said quietly.

Julie sat up again, "Fine, if you really want to know, she moved out."

"You're lying." They both knew it.

"God, what's with the third degree here? If you must have the truth, I kicked her out because she's sleeping with that Ryan kid. Happy?" Julie reached down for her purse lying on the ground and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on and lying back down once more.

"Happy? Happy? No, I am not happy. You kicked out daughter out of our home, with nowhere to stay, just because you didn't like her boyfriend! That's ridiculous! Julie, I know you're shallow but in all my life I never thought you'd stoop that low." Jimmy spat.

"It's not just that I don't like Ryan, it's just that…how do I put this…he's not right for Marissa. He's put her in danger more than once, and I don't like the idea of her becoming attached to him."

"So that's how you break them up? You kick her out? Julie, if anything that'll make the situation much worse. She'll probably move in with the guy, and if you don't like her sleeping with him now, just wait until they live together. You honestly don't have a clue." He leaned in close to Julie. "If you ask me, you're just sick of having to deal with her problems and want her out of your life."

"That could be it." Julie agreed. "Now, if you'll leave, I can finally get some sun. I'm so pale!"

"You're despicable." Jimmy whispered.

Julie waved a hand. "Whatever. Can you please go? You're blocking the sun."

Jimmy left without another word. What a woman! He couldn't see how he could have ever fallen in love with her. She hadn't changed a bit since Caleb's death. He couldn't stand to spend another minute in this house. He went upstairs and packed his bags. Hawaii was calling him.

Not before he'd have the final word, though. He pulled a picture of the family out of his wallet (in fact it was the same one Marissa had torn up). He went into Julie's room and ripped himself and Marissa out of the photo. He taped the lone picture of Julie Cooper on her wall, next a duplicate copy of that picture that she had tacked up.

One by one, Julie Cooper had lost her family, and sooner than anyone thought, she'd lose a lot more than that.

Summer and Seth sat on the floor of her room, listening to some of Seth's music.

"This sucks." Summer announced.

"It's good music! Just listen to it, for like, five minutes and you'll love it."

"What's this stupid group called, again?"

"Death Cab. Death Cab! I've told you a million times. Say it with me. Death Cab."

"Death Crap." Summer repeated.

Just then, the sound of Mariah Carey's voice filled the room as Summer's cell phone rang.

"Turn that shit down, my phone's ringing." she commanded.

Seth sighed and reluctantly paused the CD.

"Hello? Hey, Coop. Yeah, I'm with Seth right now. No, he didn't tell me anything, why? Alright, Alright, I'll be right over."

Seth could hear Marissa's anxious yell from the other side of the room: "No! Meet me at the Cohen's place."

"Ok… whatever. See you in a few." She snapped the phone shut. "Sorry, Cohen, but I've got to run over to your place to meet Marissa."

Seth yawned and stood up. "I guess I'll go too. Why did she ask you to go to my house?"

"I don't know. That _is_ kind of weird, I guess. Whatever. Let's go."

They drove over to Seth's house, and met Marissa in the kitchen.

"What's up, Coop? What's the 911?" Summer asked.

"Mymmfooutthaizptwifryananzenshkikdmeotheouae." Marissa rushed through the sentence without taking a breath.

Summer blinked. "Huh?"

Marissa leaned over and whispered in her ear, "My mom found out that I slept with Ryan and she kicked me out of the house."

Summer's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"What?" Seth asked, upset at being left out of the conversation.

"Hang on, Cohen, this is important." Summer said. "Oh, my God, Coop! I can't believe your mom would do that!"

"Do what?"

"Cohen, go find a video game to play or a comic book to read. This'll be a while." Summer said distractedly.

"Fine. See if I care." Seth huffed, and went off to his room.

"How'd she find out about you and Ryan?" Summer asked.

Marissa stared at her feet. "I told her."

"You told her! Are you crazy, Coop?"

"She wanted to know what had been going on lately, so I told her."

Summer shook her head. "So where are you staying?"

Marissa gestured around her. "Here."

"In the Cohen's kitchen?" Summer looked concerned.

"No, Sum, in their guest room." Marissa laughed; it was weird. After the events of the past couple days, no one had really been able to find much to laugh about.

"Well, Coop, you know you can always count on me if you get sick of Seth and Ryan and Sandy, there's a place for you at the Robert's house." Summer stopped herself just in time: she had almost said Kirsten's name after Sandy.

Everything always seemed OK until someone accidentally reminded them of the tragedies that had happened. _Why does it have to be like this?_ Marissa wondered. _Why can't everything be okay, just for once?_

Maybe someday it would be, but not for a while.

"Well," Summer said, as though she could read Marissa's mind, "It'll be OK for now. At least you have Ryan. I can't believe you guys actually did it!"

Marissa nodded. "I know."

And all of a sudden, she remembered what had been lurking in the back of her mind since last night.

"Oh, my God." Marissa said.

"What?"

"I just remembered. This might sound kind of gross, but I just realized what's been bugging me all day. Last night, we didn't use protection."

Summer gasped. "Are you serious? Coop, that is really bad in way too many ways to count."

"I know, I think I've heard that before. Before, as in seventh grade health class."

The girls both recalled their middle-school health teacher, a nervous young man who was having trouble teaching the curriculum.

_"Class, today out topic is safe, er, um, sex," Mr. Dobson, their new health teacher said, a bead of nervous sweat trickling down his brow. "Now, when you are in college or maybe even high school, you're going to want to go out there, and, um, uh, do things with each other. Always, always, always use a condom. No matter what."_

"Why didn't you listen to him?" Summer asked.

"I don't know! We were caught up in the moment, and neither of us thought of it."

"Coop, what if you got HIV or AIDS or something? What if you're pregnant?"

Marissa nervously laughed. "Sum, I doubt that happened."

"It could have, though. You should check. There's no harm in taking a test." Summer persisted.

"Fine, if it'll make you happy, we can go down to Walgreen's and get a test."

"Good."

They drove down to the local Walgreen's, and followed the signs to "Pregnancy," where they found wall after wall of condoms, birth control pills, and pregnancy tests.

Marissa looked for the cheapest one, which happened to the new and improved Walgreen's brand kind, with digital "Positive" or "Negative" readout.

The girls headed to the only cashier open, a pimple-faced fifteen-year-old.

"So," he said as he rang them up, "which one of you ladies is the single one?"

"How would you know if one of us was going out or not?" Summer asked, confused.

He pointed to the test that he had just bagged.

"Oh."

"Your total is $9.57, but if you'll go out with me, it's on the house." He informed them.

"Ew." Summer said, handing him a ten. "Keep the change."

Marissa took the bag and headed back to the car.

Ten minutes later, Marissa emerged from one of the Cohen's upstairs bathrooms. "It says here that it takes three minutes to register. So we've got to wait three minutes."

"You should get Ryan." Summer said suddenly.

"What?" Marissa asked.

"If you are, then he should know."

"If you insist," Marissa sighed.

Summer dashed into the family room, where Ryan had joined Seth in a video game competition. "Ryan," she announced, "Marissa needs you."

"For what?" Ryan asked, putting down his controller.

"You'll see." She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up the stairs, explaining along the way that Marissa, just to be safe, was taking a pregnancy test and she wanted Ryan there with her to check the results.

He entered the upstairs hallway and stood next to Marissa, who was holding the test face down.

"Did you look yet?" he asked.

"Nope. We've got to wait about three more seconds. Annnnnd... now."

She flipped the test.

There, on the screen, was the ugliest eight-letter word that Marissa had ever read.

Summer had her eyes shut. "Well, what does it say?" she asked Ryan.

He looked around the room, desperate for an escape. But Summer was unintentionally blocking the door, and out the window was not an option.

Marissa's eyes filled with tears as he read the result to Summer: "Positive."

**A/N: Hehehe… I have 1/2 a mind to not update for a week just to drive you guys nuts on thi one, but I won't. What did you think? Did you like it? I know after the Jimmy/Julie scene the writing kind of sucked, but it's extremely hard to write that part. Sorry bout that. Please review and tell me whether you like my chapter! Thanks! **


	5. How Did This Happen To Us?

A/N: Thank you all SO much for the reviews. (Yay! 7 reviews in two days! Keep it up!) I obviously did not know about the whole pregnancy tests have to wait a week or two before showing up positive thing. If I really felt like it, I could have that whole thing be actually right, which would mean the baby wouldn't be Ryan's, but I could never do that SO I do apologize for that mistake, and there's not really anything I can do to fix it without rewriting Chapter Four and making a few more chapters until Marissa finds out, but I'm not going to do that, since I need to move on with the story. So, let's just say that… hmm… Walgreen's is actually very high-tech, and they invented a new kind of test that detects it within eighteen hours. I honestly have no clue if that's possibly, but you know this story is based on a TV show, which means anything can happen. So yeah. It would kind of ruin my plot if Marissa had to wait half a month before find out.

Disclaimer (I seriously need to start writing more of these): I do NOT own the O.C., even though it would ROCK if I did, but I do own hmm, let's see, that policeman and receptionist in Chapter One, and all new situations and plots that you see in this story (The only exception to that would be if, by some amazing twist of fate, Josh Schwartz and the O.C. team read my story, love it, and decide to use it on the show. That would be perfectly fine with me. More than fine. I think if that happened I might pass out, actually).

Okay, now my locoing A/N and disclaimer are over! Whew.

Marissa stood, stunned, staring at the little test that had changed her life. Summer's mouth was hanging open, and Ryan shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortably.

"And just when we thought our lives were returning to normal," Summer managed to say.

"We? Maybe you guys. Not me. As far as we know, I'm charged with murder. You think that's normal?" Marissa snapped.

"Oh. Yeah." How could I forget? Summer asked herself.

Seth came jogging up the stairs. "Sorry to interrupt, but Ryan, I 'm gonna turn off the game and grab lunch, so… Why are you all standing with your mouths agape in the hallway? What are you all staring at?"

No one bothered to answer him. Seth moved in to the circle, getting a clear view of the positive pregnancy test.

"Oh, my God. Summer why didn't you tell me that you were pregnant? How could this have happened? We 're careful. We use protection. I can't believe you would go off and run to Marissa and Ryan and not tell me-" Seth yelled at Summer.

"Cohen," Summer said calmly.

"and now we've got a friggin' baby on our hands and-"

"Cohen!"

"What are we supposed to do? I'm not ready for a kid. I'm still a kid I just-"

"COHEN!"

"What, Summer?" Seth said icily.

"I'm not pregnant."

"Oh." Seth said sheepishly. "Then wha-"

Marissa sighed. "I am."

Seth blinked. "Huh? You are what?"

"I'm pregnant. Not Summer." she explained, trying to keep her tone down.

"Oh, my God." He said again. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Marissa choked out, and began to sob. Ryan held her. She cried and cried and cried. Her tears stained his shirt.

Seth and Summer looked uncomfortable, and after an eternity Marissa emitted one last sniff and wiped her face with a Kleenex that Seth had retrieved from the bathroom.

"We'll, uh, leave you two alone," Seth said. He took Summer by the hand and led her downstairs to the kitchen.

"Do you want to sit down?" Ryan asked. Marissa nodded, and they went into the nearest room (Seth's bedroom) and sat down on the bed.

"So…" she said, "um…"

It had never been hard to talk to Ryan before. Conversation had always flowed naturally, with no awkward pauses (or at least not many.) But now, Marissa couldn't think of a word to say to him.

"What are we going to do about it?" he asked.

"I'll understand if you want to leave me," she said, her voice breaking. "You don't have to stay."

"I'm staying."

"I don't want you to feel that you have to. When you stayed with Theresa last summer, I know you didn't want to, but you felt obligated. I don't want you to feel like that. If you want to dump me and run away, I won't stop you." She was close to tears again.

"I'm staying," he repeated, "and it's not because I think I have to. Marissa, I don't want this kid to grow up without a dad." He added softly. "I know how horrible that is."

"So does that mean you want me to keep it?" Marissa was confused. She had thought the first thing out of his mouth was going to be a comment about how she should get an abortion.

He nodded.

"If we're going to actually have a kid, we've got to commit it to it. Right now, we've got to agree: No adoption, no abortion, just you and me and the baby." she told him.

He nodded again.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay."

From that moment on, Marissa vowed that she would be strong. No more tears. She had to stay healthy, which meant no more drinking. It would be hard, and she didn't know if she could do it, but damn it, was she going to try.

"Anyways," she continued, standing up, "I'm hungry. Let's go see if Seth and Summer are up for going out to lunch."

"I ate while you and Summer were at the store, so you three can go on without me, I'm just going to stay here." Ryan lied.

"Alright then," Marissa said. "See you later!" He heard her going downstairs and saying something about lunch to Seth and Summer.

He hadn't really eaten, in fact he was starving. But he needed some time alone to think.

He heaved a huge sigh, and as he heard Marissa calling from the kitchen ("Bye, Ryan! We're going out to lunch. Call my cell if you need me.") he got up and left Seth's room for the pool house.

Once there, he sat down on his bed and buried his head in his hands. What had they gotten into? They were seventeen years old, and having a kid. They weren't married, hadn't been dating for _that _long, less than six months, and here they were with a baby on the way. How were they going to tell Sandy and Kirsten? They'd already been through the shock of having Ryan get someone pregnant once, they were probably hoping they wouldn't have to have it happen again for another five or ten years. At least they didn't have to worry about what Julie would think.

"Guess Julie really would have had a reason to kick Marissa out this time," he said aloud.

He just hoped that the Cohen's would be supportive. He knew they would probably try to convince them to give it up one way or another, but in the end, would support whatever decision they made. And just when Kirsten was finally getting better…this would really make her want to bring out the booze. And Sandy. He was going to work on Marissa's case. If she had to appear before a judge and jury to plead her case, all they would see is a pregnant teen murderer, who had almost died on drugs in TJ, and had a record of underage drinking. The only way Marissa would even have a chance would be if the trial came before she started to show, and Ryan doubted that that would happen. He didn't know much about trials, but he had learned from Marissa making him watch _Chicago_ a while ago that it takes at least like five months for a murder trial date, if they were going to charge her with that. What else could they lay her with? What exactly _was_ manslaughter, anyways? He had never really gotten it. Still pondering about that, he got up and went back into the house. He went into Sandy's office, and found a law dictionary. M… ma….man… ah ha. Manslaughter. It turned out that it was a killing without "premeditation or malice aforethought", which meant that it was a killing that wasn't planned. That fit the situation, Ryan thought, and read on. There were two kinds: voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary manslaughter "**includes killing in heat of passion or while committing a felony." That sort of fit. Had it been heat of passion? Not really. She was defending him. Defending… it rang a bell in his head and he flipped to the defenses section, then to "defense of others". It was a justification for breaking the law, he read, and it was used to argue that the person should not be liable for the crime, since the actions were being used to protect another. He was satisfied that Marissa could get of on it, until the last sentence of the definition caught his eye. "**Most courts have ruled that this defense cannot be used to protect friends or family members who have engaged in an illegal fight." He cursed aloud. It couldn't work. He had been in an illegal fight with Trey.

But Ryan had grown up accustomed to sneaking around the rules, and his mind still could think of ways to slide past the government. If Trey couldn't testify, then who was there to say that Ryan had been fighting with him? Yes. They could say that Ryan came over to visit his brother, when they had gotton into a slight argument and Trey, who was stoned (which was true), had began to beat up Ryan, who had only hit back in self-defense. Marissa walked in on Trey strangling Ryan, and saw the gun on the floor, and shot Trey to save Ryan.

But that would mean lying to the jury, which was also a criminal offense. Ryan didn't care, he would testify to that, not Marissa, and if the jury found him guilty of perjury, then he'd go to jail. Anything, anything, to keep Marissa out of there…

**A/N: I would just like to credit http/en. for my quoted definition of defense of others, and http/dictionary. for my definition of manslaughter. I'm starting to get into this legal thing, so you think I did an OK job so far, let me know. ALSO if you know how a trial for murder or voluntary manslaughter could go, like realistically, please email me at I'm gonna need help on that. Thank you!**


	6. I'm Sorry For Making You Cry

**A/N: Grr. My links to the sites I used for my definitions for the legal stuff didn't work last chapter. I'm putting them again, so they can't sue me or whatever: For my definition of manslaughter, I used dictionary. law. com and for my defense of others definition, I useden . wikipedia . org / wiki / defenseofothers.****There. Ha!**

**Anyways, I really really really need someone to help me with the legal stuff, as I said before. I don't want to screw it up like I did with the pregnancy test thing (don't worry, I'm still kicking myself for that). If I can't find anyone at all to help me, I will have to kind of guess it as I go, and I'm saying now IT IS NOT MY FAULT IF I WRITE THE TRIAL WEIRDLY. I personally have never been tried for killing someone, so I don't know to do it. I have read maybe a few books with trials in them, but not murder trials. So please don't be very angry if I screw it up! (Actually, I would be angry because if anyone knew that I messed up, they would have known enough to help me!) So, if you know anything at all about murder or manslaughter trials, email me partytime509 . comcast. net. Thank you! Also, it seems like this is going to be quite a long story. I hope I don't have to make it like 30 chapters, but it will definatly be over twenty. Does anyone have a problem with that?**

Marissa was at a family party. A very odd party, indeed. Who was there? Let's see… her parents were there together and Caleb was hanging out in the kitchen talking with Sandy and Kirsten. She caught a view in the mirror of Seth and Summer, looking about five years older, sitting on a couch and holding hands. Summer was wearing a huge diamond wedding ring on her finger, and Seth was rubbing her stomach. Summer was pregnant, she correctly guessed. She looked next to her and found Ryan playing with a little girl who looked about kindergarten or late preschool. She was almost a replica of Marissa, but she had hr father's eyes.

The little girl came up to Marissa and pouted.

"Mommy," she said," I'm bored. How come I don't have any cousins or aunts or uncles to play with?"

Marissa felt her throat tighten. "You have Uncle Seth and Aunt Summer," she managed to get out.

"But, like, a REAL aunt or uncle. Does Daddy have any brothers or sisters?"

As if on cue, everyone in the room turned to face her.

"You would have," Caleb told the girl.

"If it weren't for your mother," Julie informed her.

"What did she do?"

Sandy laughed. "What didn't she do, is the question."

"It's her fault. You see-" Seth began, but Summer cut him off.

"Let me tell. Before you were born,-"

"No, Summer, it's my responsibility to tell her. Sweetie-" Kirsten glared at Marissa, but was interrupted by Ryan.

"Let me tell." Ryan said. "I had a brother. His name was Trey. And your mother killed him."

"No," Marissa said, "It's not like that. I didn't mean to. I never-"

"Don't make excuses." Jimmy hissed. "You killed him. You don't have any regrets, about it, do you?"

"Why would she?" a low voice said, and for the first time Marissa noticed a person in the corner, in the shadow of a potted plant.

"Who said that?" She began to be frightened.

"Don't you know? How could you forget me so soon, Marissa?" the voice snarled.

"No, I don't know who you are! Who are you?" she screamed.

"It's me." He said, and Trey stepped out of shadows.

Everyone walked toward her, whispering her name. "Marissa, Marissa, Marissa," they chanted.

"No! No!" Marissa whimpered, backing away. "Stop it! Go away! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Marissa." Ryan said. "Marissa, wake up. Wake up!"

She blinked and rubbed her eyes, to find herself tangled up in all her covers, with Ryan standing next to her, looking concerned.

"Ryan?" she said blearily, shaking her head and sitting up. "What's going on? Where did everyone go?"

"We're the only ones here," he said, looking slightly confused. "It's five o'clock in the morning. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered. "I'm fine. Why are you here?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep, so I went to go find some leftover bagels, and I found you crying in your sleep," he explained.

"At least I didn't punch you in the nose this time." She managed a weak smile.

"Yeah," he said. "So, are you going to tell me what you were having a nightmare about this time?"

"No," she said quietly.

"Marissa," he said, taking her hand, "We can't keep keeping secrets from each other. I know you're scared. So am I! But if we're going to be able to stay together through all of this, we can't keep secrets."

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because," she said, blinking hard to stop tears from falling, "I promised myself that I wouldn't cry anymore."

Despite her efforts, a lone teardrop fell from her eyes, and she brusquely brushed it away.

"I'm sorry," was all that Ryan could say.

"For what? " she said, looking up at him. "Ryan, you haven't done anything at all. If I were you, I wouldn't have spoken to me at all after… that night."

She hadn't meant to remind them of it.

"You have nothing to apologize for," she finished, and another few tears slipped out.

"That's not true at all. It's my fault that you're pregnant, it's my fault that you had to kill Trey, and it's my fault that your mom kicked you out. And I'm sorry for all of it. I'm sorry for the pregnancy, I'm sorry for the killing, and I'm sorry for getting you kicked out."

More and more tears ran down Marissa's face.

"I'm sorry that I made you cry," he whispered, and she began to sob. He held her and they rocked back and forth, her tears soaking his shirt.

"I promised myself," she repeated, wiping her cheeks, "that I wouldn't cry anymore. I told myself that I had to be strong. If I couldn't even stop myself from crying, how am I supposed to raise a kid? I've got to be strong, and right now, I'm not. Things are only going to get worse, Ry. You know what's going to happen in three months? I'm going to go back to school. By Thanksgiving, I'm going to look like a blimp. Everyone at school is going to point, and whisper to their friends, 'Look, that's Marissa Cooper. She's pregnant!' I'm going to be an outcast." She stopped to consider something for a moment. "If I'm even in school. I could be in jail for Thanksgiving. Either way, my life is going to be hell. I used to be popular. I was the girl who kids looked up to, wanted to be like. Who would want to be like me now? Who wants to be a teenage pregnant murderer? I'm going to be alone."

"That's not true." Ryan handed her the tissue box.

"Yes, it is. I will have no friends."

"What about Summer? Or Seth?" he asked her. "Or me?"

"I guess," she said, blowing her nose. "Is it really five o'clock?"

"Well, now it's about 4:10. Want to go see what the Cohen's have in the fridge?"

She wiped away the last few tears and smiled. "Sure."

She stood up, and he took her hand. They walked, hand in hand, the kitchen, where they found Sandy sitting at the table, munching on a fresh bagel that had apparently been picked up from the store earlier.

"What are you doing up so early?" Ryan asked him, as he and Marissa sat down.

"I could ask you two the same question. What were you guys talking about in her room at this hour?"

"Nothing." Marissa said, as Ryan replied, "I was seeing if she wanted to come for breakfast."

"Alright," Sandy said, pushing the bagel bag towards the couple. "How about you tell me what you really were discussing?"

"You still haven't told us why you're up at five AM." Marissa expertly diverted.

"I have my reasons. You know I'm going to find out sooner or later whatever you guys were chattering about."

"I wouldn't call it chattering." Marissa said, passing Ryan the cream cheese.

"But you admit you were talking to him! What happened to 'Nothing?'" Sandy's lawyer training had kicked into full gear.

"Fine, if you must know, we were talking about what to get you for Father's Day," Marissa lied.

"See? I knew it. Nothing gets past Sandy Cohen," he said proudly, getting up to clear off his plate. "I've got to go to work. I'll be home later tonight, so you guys can order out some Chinese or something." He pushed in his chair.

"By the way, Marissa," he said nonchalantly, pulling something out of his briefcase. "I think you may have misplaced this," He dropped her pregnancy test on to the table, and left.

She stared at it, her mouth agape.

"Well," Ryan said, "that's one less person to tell."

"That's not exactly how I wanted him to find out."

"Do you think he told Kirsten?"Ryan wondered.

"It's been thee days. 72 hours. He's allowed to call her now. I bet you, first thing this morning, he was on the phone with her. "Hi, honey. What's new with you? Good. With us? Well, Marissa killed Trey, yup." Marissa answered

"then Ryan knocked her up, yes I know, two in two years, that must be a record, huh?" he finished for her. It had been a joke, but no one was laughing.

"What will she say?" Marissa sighed. "She's going to hate me. And Sandy, for taking me in."

"She'll understand."

Marissa scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Ryan raised and lowered an eyebrow. "Who knows? Maybe I'm wrong."

"Ryan, that's not helping." Marissa wasnot in the mood to kid around. "I told Summer that I'd go shoppingwith her this morning. I needto go change."

She hurried off to her room.

He sighed, and buried his head in his hands. Was this what the rest of his life was going to be like? Marissa, breaking down all the time, and avoiding touchy subjects? He loved her, but he did not want to spend the next sixty years consoling her every day. She was right. She needed to be strong. He couldn't take this much longer. Things were going to have to change. The depressed atmosphere around the house was getting to him. It was all too familiar.

**Disclaimer (sorry, had to wait til the end or else I would have spoiled the chapter): I do NOT own the O.C., (wahh!), but I do own hmm, it would all new situations and plots that you see in this story, particularly in this chapter, such as Marissa's dream. Or anything else new that you see. The only exception to that, as usual, would be if, by some amazing twist of fate, Josh Schwartz and the O.C. team read my story, love it, and decide to use it on the show. That would be perfectly fine with me. More than fine. I think if that happened I might pass out, actually.**


	7. So Very Tempting

A/N: I, like I have said, know just about zilch about trials. So I decided the way I do it is how it's done in the O.C. Too bad if I'm wrong, oh well. If you don't like it, tough. If there is like a huge mistake, let me know and I'll go back and fix it to the best of my ability. I'm probably going to do the whole trial next chapter (which means next chapter's going to be a long one), so look out for that. I'm probably going to do the rest of my disclaimers at the end of the chapters, just so when I say I own , it doesn't spoil anything. Also, as always, I encourage you: Review, s'il vous plait! I love hearing that people like what I wrote (or that they took the time to tell me that they don't like it) and it gives me such much incentive to update quicker.

Marissa, Ryan, and Seth all sat down to a nice meal of egg rolls and chow mein that night. Everyone avoided talking about recent events, and since they had to carefully watch their words, Seth decided to blather on about some new video game that Death Cab for Cutie had done the soundtrack for, which, apparently was his lifelong dream.

"And so when you get to Level Six, and get the golden sword, they composed this like, special song, just for the game, and it plays out with this like, long guitar solo-"

Marissa and Ryan sighed in relief as the phone rang. Seth didn't seem to notice ("and then when you get to Level Nine, whoa man, it is just amazing how they incorporate the background to match the music").

Marissa jumped up. "I'll get it!"

"No, let me." Ryan insisted.

"I've got it," she said, grabbing the phone.

He snatched it. "Hello?"

She gave him the Evil Eye.

"Yeah, sure, hang on." Ryan's face fell. "Sandy wants to talk to you, Riss."

She gleefully took the handset. "Hello!"

"Ryan, my man," Seth gestured to Ryan's seat. "Take some more rice, cause, dude, I have got to tell you about the secret level."

"Hey, Marissa. Listen, I know you don't want to hear this, but I've got your trial date. I pulled some strings… okay many, many, strings and found an opening. It's really really soon, though." Sandy informed her.

"How soon could it be?" she asked, doodling on a pad of paper. "If it's really soons in a couple months, right?"

"I didn't say really soon: I said really, _really_ soon. Which mean, we're heading to court in four days."

Marissa dropped the phone.

"Is everything alright?" Ryan asked, eager to interrupt Seth's ramblings.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine," she said shakily, a jittering hand picking up the receiver. "Did you say four days? Is that even possible?"

"Yeah. Which means that for the next three days, we will be spending every spare second working on your defense. They have you for manslaughter, which is good, because if you are convicted, then it's a much less severe sentence. We're planning on using the 'defense of others' plea, which means that if Ryan testifies, which he most likely will have to, he will have to tweak the truth a tad. He's got to make it sound like Trey attacked him and that he hit back in self-defense. The only way that we are going to get away with that is because Trey cannot testify against what Ryan says. "

Marissa tried to pay attention to Sandy, but if sounded like a bunch of legal gibberish.

"So, anyways, tomorrow morning, meet me around eight-ish in my office. We'll go over everything."

She swallowed hard. "Okay."

"I know that this is going to be hard for you. You're going to have to relive that night many, many times. So toughen up now, because, and I don't mean this to sound cruel, it's only going to get worse. Tell the others I'll be home around midnight."

"Bye," she said, dazed, and clicked the OFF button.

"What was that about?" Ryan asked, once again hurriedly cutting short Seth's nonsense about the game

"Sandy got my trial date." Marissa said, shifting her weight uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Oh. When is it?" Seth wanted to know.

"Wednesday."

"Wednesday… which one?"

"The eighth."

"Of… September? October?"

"June."

"Wow, you have to wait a whole year?

"_This _June."

Seth blinked. "Whoa."

"Yeah," Marissa said, staring intently at her feet.

"Did he say anything about who's testifying?" Ryan asked

"He specifically mentioned me and you, but I think they could call up Seth and Summer."

"Really. Summer and Seth. How much you bet Seth freaks out on the witness stand?"

"Okay, let's keep talking about me like I'm not here, fine with me." Seth announced loudly.

"Sorry." Marissa apologized. "Sandy said to tell you guys that he'll be home at midnight. I'm going to go to my room, I'm sort of tired. See you guys later." She left the room at a quick pace. She had to go think.

She entered her room, and sat on her bed. She was feeling pretty shitty right about now. She hated going into her self-pity mode: it didn't get her anywhere. She was very tempted to go pull out the liquor; after all it was a pretty good solution. When she was drunk she didn't have to deal with her numerous problems. She could just stand back and let the alcohol control her. She stood up, and reached up to the highest shelf in the closet, and pulled down a bottle of it. She popped open the li, and was about to take a swig, when she remembered: the baby. She had no problem with hurting herself, but she could never live with herself if she got drunk now and the baby ended up brain-damaged, or crippled, or dead. She reluctantly went into the bathroom and poured it all down the toilet. She watched the last of the liquor flush down the toilet, and then pitched the empty bottle as far as she could out of the bathroom window. She walked back to her room as soon as she heard it crash outside.

She was all alone in her bedroom .She sat on her bed and hugged her knees, slowly rocking back and forth. She hadn't really thought about the prospect of losing her case, but it was there. What was to happen if she had to spend the next thirty years in jail? She shuddered. It was not something that she wanted to dwell upon, so she didn't. She lay down, and relaxed, slowly falling asleep, dreaming of a future where she wasn't in jail, wasn't a murderer, but was happy. She had a family. Maybe after this one she and Ryan would have some more kids, and get married. She had never seen herself living the white picket fence kind of lifestyle, but she envisioned it, and compared to her life now, it didn't seem so bad.

Ryan was in the middle of a half-hearted game on the Xbox, and was losing terribly, when the phone rang once again.

"I'll get it," he offered, leaving the controller down.

"What about our game?" Seth asked.

"I'm not really up to it, now," he replied, and answered the phone.

"Hello? Yeah, hang on a minute." Ryan went to go find Marissa. He pushed open her door. "Marissa, Summ-" he began, but found her lying on her bed, fast asleep.

"Sorry, Summer," he said, heading back to the kitchen, where Seth was now eating a cookie. "Marissa's asleep."

Seth looked up. "Summer's on the phone?"

Ryan nodded.

"Let me talk to her."

"Seth wants to talk to you."

He listened for a minute, wrote something down, and turned back to his brother. "I'm supposed to tell you that Summer says:" he glanced down at what he had written. "Oh, so now you want to talk? Well, then why didn't you call me two days ago, it's not like you do anything except sit on your ass and play video games." He recited.

Seth picked up the phone. "I love you, baby," he said sincerely to Summer.

"Aw, Cohen, that's so sweet." Summer was charmed.

Ryan rolled his eyes and hung up as the couple continued their mushy love talk. He was tired, too, so he took a page from Marissa's book and went back to the pool house to fall asleep.

A half-hour later, Seth hung up with Summer and glanced at the clock. It was only nine. Why was everyone so sleepy? He had had a few too many Pixy Stix at lunch today, and his energy was boundless. He decided to go play a one-player video game for a few minutes.

A few minutes turned into a few hours, and at midnight, when Sandy opened the front door, the first thing he heard was, "Yes. Yes. All right. Here we go. Come on, come on… YES! LEVEL FOUR!"

He walked in on Seth dancing madly around the family room, singing a made up victory song that sounded like "Alright Seth, I rock, oh yeah," to the tune of "We Are The Champions."

"I'm not even gonna ask," Sandy shook his head. "Go to bed, Seth."

"All I ask is for forty-five more minutes so I can eat the ninja-scorpions and get to Level Five," his son pleaded.

"Nope," he said, flipping of the game console. "Bed."

Seth stared at his father in horror. "Oh, my God. Dad, how did you do that? I hadn't saved my game since Level Two! It took me two hours to do that!" He stormed off in a rag towards his room, fuming under his breath.

Sandy went into the kitchen and unpacked his briefcase, taking out all his files on Marissa's case, and laying them out. They overlapped each other, filling the whole table.

He sighed, and got to work. This could possibly be his hardest case ever. The jury had no evidence against what they were going to say, and that would make them very suspicious, especially since most people the defense would be calling up to the stand were Marissa's closest friends. This case was going to be hard on everyone. It was gonna be long days and nights filled with legal crap for the next three weeks. He sighed once more, and began to work on what he would say to convince the jury (and himself) that Marissa Cooper was an innocent person.

He knew she had killed out of love for Ryan, not for hate for Trey: she wasn't guilty of that charge. But ever since he had discovered that she was pregnant, he was… what was it… He wasn't angry with her, he was… disappointed. He would have thought that being charged with manslaughter would have sobered her up (literally and figuratively), not made her get more wild and get pregnant. The only reason he had pushed so very hard for an early trial dat was so the judge and jury wouldn't find out about her condition.

He had spoken to Kirsten today. It was incredibly difficult, trying to explain the events of the last few days to her, and when he had finished, there was a long silence on her end.

Finally, after about five minutes of saying nothing, she had told him that she was going to come home. This was a family emergency, and she needed to be home.

But he had insisted that she stay. After arguing with her for forty minutes, he told her that she could come to the trials, as long as as soon as the day's hearing as over, she returned directly to the facility. She reluctantly agreed, and he got on the phone with her supervisor to inform him of the situation. At first, the director had objected, but Sandy asked him whether he should just take Kirsten out all together and get his money back, and the man hurriedly agreed with Sandy.

He stared down at the miles and miles of yellow files that lay in front of him, and uttered one last sigh, and began work on Marissa's defense. He knew he would have bags under his eyes for the next month. It was going to be a long night

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the O.C., but I do own hmm, it would all new situations and plots that you see in this story., such as Marissa's pregnancy, Julie kicking her out, ect. You get it. The only exception to that, as usual, would be if, by some incredibly unusual, yet amazing twist of fate, Josh Schwartz and the O.C. team read my story (right…), love it(sure…), and decide to use it on the show(ha. Like that's going to happen).. That would be perfectly fine with me. More than fine. I think if that happened I would probably faint and, when I woke up, pass out again. Because that would be amazingly awesome.


	8. We, The Jury

A/N: One review? kursk, you rock, but seriously, people. If it sucked enough to not review it, review it anyways and _tell_ me that it sucked. I have no idea if you guys liked it or not! Pretty please review this one; it's a big chapter.

A/N: Just so this doesn't confuse people: When you hear a character on trial that is saying something that conflicts with the actual events of what happen, they're lying. I'm not mistaken; I know Ryan attacked Trey first. But they are changing their story to save Marissa. Also, I'm having the trial take just one day. I know that doesn't happen, but it just makes more sense to shorten it. I don't really understand why they'd need more than like, eight hours for all the testimonies and stuff. The jury's decision my take a few days, however. This is a long, legal chapter, so if you think it'll bore you, you could skip it. I'm not sure yet if you'll absolutely have to read it in order to understand the story, but I would recommend it. Am I making sense?

She stood in front of her mirror, fixing her hair, Should it be up? Down? Braided? She finally settled on a low ponytail, and it seemed to fit,

She took another peek at her reflection. It wasn't what she was used to seeing. God only knew how long it had been since she wore a suit, but here she was, sporting a gray blazer, a soft pink tee, and a matching gray skirt.

"Coop?" Summer asked, knocking at her door. "Are you ready?"

She looked one last time at the mirror. "Yeah."

She left her room and walked with Summer down to Sandy's car. Sandy was already in the car, and Ryan was in the back. Summer hopped in the passenger seat, and Marissa slid in next to her boyfriend, taking his hand. Seth had already left, going to pick up his mom at the center, and drive her to the courthouse.

"All set?" Sandy asked, as she slammed the door shut.

She tensely nodded.

"All right, then." He backed the car out of the driveway and set off for the city.

The closer they got to the courthouse, the tighter she gripped Ryan's hand. She was nervous. God, was she nervous. She had been trained for this day for the last half of a week, and she still was absolutely terrified.

No one spoke in the car; everyone was too deeply involved in their own thoughts. Sandy turned on the traffic report after a few minutes, but other than that there was complete silence. No one noticed that they had pulled up to the Orange County Court Of Law, until Sandy nervously cleared his throat.

"Um, we're here," he announced.

"Right," Marissa said, blinking. Ryan got out of the car and held the door open for her.

"Thanks," she smiled warily, and took his hand again. She needed all the moral support she could get.

Summer uncomfortably crossed her arms and stayed behind the group. She waited at the curb for Seth to pull up. When he did, he helped Kirsten out of the car, then took his girlfriends arm.

As Marissa headed up the steps to the courthouse, she was immensely surprised to find her picture being taken by camera people from the local newspaper.

"What's with all the photos?" she asked Sandy, as they opened the door.

"Haven't you read a paper lately? Thursday's huge headline was 'Teen Kills Her Boyfriend's Brother.' You're the new hero-or villain- of Newport. Enjoy it while it lasts.

As he spoke the last word, a man dressed in brown and gray, with a gigantic camera, jumped out in front of them. "Marissa! Look here!" He snapped her photo.

She noticed a woman in a bright red suit talking into a microphone off to the side. "Thanks, Jay. I'm here at the Orange County Court of Law, where Marissa Cooper, her lawyer, and friends have just entered. Miss Cooper, as you know, has been charged with manslaughter, after shooting her boyfriend's brother last Wednesday evening. Cooper, who is right now going through security, is with her boyfriend today-" the camera panned Ryan "and some of her close friends." The cameraman got a shot of Summer and Seth. "Apparently absent today is Cooper's mother, who resides here in Newport, and her father, who lives in Hawaii. Also joining Cooper's entourage today is Kirsten Cohen, wife of Cooper's lawyer and mother of one of Cooper's closest friends. For NBC News, I'm Susan Harper. We'll be sure to keep you updated. Back to you, Jay."

"I'm on the news?" Marissa asked, distraught.

"Yeah."

They passed security, Marissa squeezing Ryan's hand so hard that it was turning white, and stopped in front of Room 1110.

"This is it," Sandy informed them. "Ready?"

"Yeah," she lied.

He pushed open the heavy oak doors, into the courtroom, and motioned for them to sit down while he checked in with the judge.

Marissa sat down in a scratchy green chair, and the rest of the group followed suit. Marissa looked over at the jury. There were six women and four men. A man and a woman were Hispanic, three women and two men were Caucasian, and two women and one man were African-American.

A few minutes later, Sandy joined them.

"All right, we're going to start opening statements in about five minutes. See that guy over there?" Sandy inconspicuously pointed to a man with soft gray hair, clad in a tan, faux-suede suit, opening a briefcase and rummaging through it. "He's the prosecution lawyer. Name's Mark Harrison. He'll make a statement about why you're an evil murderer who should be locked away, I'll go up there and deny everything he says, he'll call people up, question them, we'll call people up, question them, and then he'll repeat his shit about you being an evil murderer, and I will once again deny it. That's pretty much how it's gonna go."

"Alright," Marissa said shakily.

The doors swung open again and a woman, wearing judge's robes, strode in. Everyone stood up, and sat back down as she took her place.

She banged the gavel down. "Order! Order! I call this court to session."

Instantaneously, everyone stopped talking.

"Marissa Cooper, stand before me."

Marissa rose and walked over to the judge.

"You have been charged with the manslaughter of Trey Atwood. How do you plead?"

Marissa's voice shook as she answered. "Not guilty."

"You may return to your seat. I now call forth the prosecution to begin their opening statement."

Mr. Harrison adjusted his tie, sniffed, and arrogantly walked over to the prosecution stand.

"Ladies and gentleman of the jury," he began loudly, "here we have a very unusual case. The question is not, did Ms. Cooper kill Mr. Atwood, it why did she do it? And you all are probably wondering that. Why _did_ she kill him? The answer, my friends, is simple." He paused for effect. "Ms. Cooper did not kill Mr. Atwood because, as the defense claims, out of defense for another. The fact is, over spring break Mr. Atwood attempted to rape Ms. Cooper, and she wanted revenge. Ms. Cooper had been leading Mr. Atwood on, causing him to believe she had feelings for him, _which she did not._ When Ms. Cooper found Mr. Ryan Atwood illegally fighting with Mr. Trey Atwood, she saw it as the opportune moment, to take the life of an innocent man. Ladies and gentleman, we have here a young woman who took her revenge on a defenseless young man much too far."

He nodded to the jury.

"Does that conclude your opening remark?" the judge asked him.

"It does." Mr. Harrison took his seat.

Marissa had been struggling to stay silent through his speech. It was a pack of lies, all of it.

She snapped back to the situation as the judge called Sandy up for his opening statement.

"Thank you, your honor." Sandy said. "During Mr. Harrison's speech, I took note of what he say, and he appears to be erroneous on the events that took place before and up to Mr. Atwood's death." He pulled out a piece of paper. "He was correct in the fact that over Spring Break, Mr. Atwood attempted to rape my client. But he neglected to tell you the full story. He and Ms. Cooper had been watching a movie at his apartment, when he suggested they go for a walk along the beach. She agreed, and she went outside. While she was out of the house, Mr. Atwood used drugs to get him high. She was unaware of this, until he attacked her and admitted that he had taken drugs. She had not been leading him on, she had simply befriended him, and the drugs caused him to believe she wanted something more than friendship. Ms. Cooper is very happy with her boyfriend, and is loyal to him. She was distraught over his attack, and finally admitted to her boyfriend, Mr. Ryan Atwood, who was Trey's brother. Ryan went to go discuss the issue with his brother, who was once again under the influence." Sandy took a deep breath. This was where he had to change the true events a little bit. "His brother became aggressive when pressed about the matter, and began to physically attack Ryan. Ryan responded in self-defense. When Ms. Cooper showed up, knowing that Trey could be dangerous, and that Ryan might not be safe, she discovered Trey strangling Ryan. She pleaded with Trey not to kill him, but he did not listen She saw a gun lying on the ground, that had been dropped during the fight by Trey, and warned him again to stop choking her boyfriend. When Trey again refused, she shot him, and therefore saved Ryan Atwood's life. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, we have here _not_ a young woman who took revenge on a defenseless young man, but a frightened young woman who killed a man that was killing someone else, consequently saving another life."

"Does that conclude your opening remark?"

"Yes, Your Honor." Sandy sat back down.

Mr. Harrison mentally kicked him self. Damn it, he forgot to say Your Honor. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!  
"The prosecution will begin their case," the judge proclaimed.

Mr. Harrison stood before the court. "I call Ryan Atwood to the stand."

Ryan walked over to the bailiff. "Left hand down on the Bible, raise your right hand and swear tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, help you God."

"Yeah."

The bailiff gestured for him to take a seat on the witness stand.

"Mr. Atwood," the attorney made the words long and sharp. "Could you please retell the events starting from when you found out about your brother's attack on your girlfriend?"

"Seth told me that over spring break, Trey attacked Marissa. I was upset and went to go talk it out with. We fought-" he stopped and looked at Sandy's horrified face. "Not physically. With words." Sandy relaxed. "But Trey pulled out a gun and said I had to leave or he'd kill me. I was going to leave but turned in to say something. Trey thought I was going to attack him, and he started punching me. I was fighting him back, but in self-defense. He was a lot stronger than me, and threw me on the floor and stared choking him. Marissa came in and begged Trey to stop, and he didn't. He was about to hit me over the head with a phone, when Marissa found the gun that I had pushed out of his hands and shot him."

"And why do you think she shot him?"

"So he couldn't kill me."

"Do you suspect, even a little bit, that there could be another reason?"

"No."

"Maybe because she hated Trey for attacking her, wanted him dead?" Harrison suggested hopefully.

"No."

"Is there anything else you want to note about what happened?"

"Yeah. When I came over, Trey was on drugs."

"Do you know how Ms. Cooper knew your life would be in danger?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"You were his brother, you knew him growing up. He was a good kid, right?"

Ryan laughed hollowly. "No. When we were really little, like I was four and he was eight, he stole every kid's bike in Chino. By the time he was ten, he had been hotwiring and stealing cars for a year."

"But he was a good brother, right?"

"Sometimes," Ryan said quietly.

Mr. Harrison sighed; this had not been helpful to his case. "Thank you, you may sit down." Ryan returned to his seat next to Marissa, and she immediately attached her hand to his again.

"I now call Summer Roberts to the stand."

Summer went over to the bailiff and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help her God.

She sat down at the winless stand, crossing her left leg over her right.

"Ms. Roberts, could you please tell us how you knew about Ms. Cooper's… incident… with Mr. Atwood?" Harrison began his second interrogation.

Summer smiled sweetly. "Which Mr. Atwood are you referring to, sir?"

There were some hastily muffled laughs from the people watching the trial.

Harrison rolled his eyes. "Trey."

"Sir, would it be all right if I used people's first names when referring to them?"

As tempted as he was to say 'Whatever', he controlled the urge. "That's fine, Ms. Roberts. Now could you please answer the question?"

"Well, I invited Marissa to go out with me, and she said OK, and I told her we could go as soon as she explained the huge bruise on her neck and all the tension when she's around Trey lately, and she broke down and told me what happened."

"Did she ask you to keep it confidential?"

"No."

Damn. He had been so sure… "And then you proceeded to tell Seth and Ryan?"

"No."

He was confused now. "Then how did they find out?"

"I told Seth, and _Seth_ told Ryan."

That girl was going to be playing mind games with him all day, wasn't she? Oy. "And you let Seth tell Ryan, even though you knew it might provoke him into a fight with his brother."

"No one had told Ryan what had happened, and he thought that there was a slight possibility that while he was away for Spring Break, Marissa and Trey had gotten together, which wasn't true. He had to know the truth, or his relationship with Marissa would have lost its stability."

For a girl who looked like she spent more time in the mall than she did in school, she knew how to put a sentence together pretty well. "So then how did Marissa find out that Ryan had found out?" He didn't like the way that sentence had gone, it sounded unprofessional.

"Seth called her and told her that Ryan knew. She understood, and took off for Trey's to stop any fighting that might happen, and Seth and I started off for there, too. Marissa just happened to be closer and got there first."

"I see. And when did you arrive?"

"Seth and I walked in the door as she shot him."

"I see," he repeated. "And did you think that that was necessary in order to preserve Ryan's life?"

"From what I had seen, yes." Like she would have said no.

"And tell me, Ms. Roberts, how well did you know the late Mr. Atwood?" He couldn't help it. First names were way too uncomfortable and unprofessional for him. And with that sentence about Marissa finding out about Ryan finding out, he needed all the professionalism that he could get.

"Not that well."

"And the present Mr. Atwood?"

Summer shrugged. "We're friends. We don't hang out like, one on one a lot or anything, but Seth and Marissa and Ryan and I go out all together often."

"And Ms. Cooper?"

"She's my best friend."

"Alright, thank you Ms. Roberts. You may go back."

She stood up, smoothing her designer skirt, and everyone in the courthouse heard her heels click back to the seats.

"I call Seth Cohen to the stand." Mr. Harrison fidgeted with his fingernails.

Seth lazily stood up and stretched, proceeding promise to tell the truth, the whole and nothing but the truth only after being poked and pinched several times by Summer.

"Mr. Cohen. What do you know about the situation?" Harrison asked, trying to discreetly bite a hangnail. So much for professionalism.

"To be honest, nothing that you haven't already heard."

"Is it true that Ms. Roberts informed you of Mr. Atwood's attack on Ms. Cohen, and you, in turn, informed Mr. A- I mean, Ryan of it and Ms. Cooper of Ryan's knowledge of the situation?" There. He had gotten the wording right this time.

"Yup."

Harrison had been expecting more than a syllable in response: he was caught off guard.

"Is, um, er…" He fished for a question. "Do you believe that Ms. Cooper is, as the defense claims, a young woman simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or do you believe it to be more than that?"

"No, I think the defense would be right on that one." Seth yawned.

This kid wasn't going to help. He excused the teen, and thought. He was not doing well, that was for sure. Why did this have to be his first case? He got stuck against a trial that any half-wit defense lawyer could win, especially the great Sandy Cohen. This would not look good on his record. It was time to call in his surprise attack.

No one had noticed her there, she was dressed way down, sitting in a chair that in the shadows. Yet as she stood up as her name was called, her dark tan revealed her identity easily.

"I call Julie Cooper-Nichol to the stand." Harrison smirked, as the eyes of the Cohen's, Marissa and Summer widened simultaneously.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?"

"Yeah, sure," Julie said, pushing her black sunglasses up on her head and taking a seat on the witness stand.

"Mrs. Cooper-Nichol, could you please tell the court some of your daughter previous infractions with the law?"

"I certainly could, Mr. Harrison," she said, and his cheeks flushed tomato red. "Marissa has been notorious for her drinking, sir, and she did some illegal drugs two years ago in Mexico, which almost resulted in her death."

"I see. Mrs. Cooper-Nichol-"

"Please," she said flirtatiously, "call me Julie."

The lawyer awkwardly cleared his throat. "J-Julie, could you tell us where your daughter lives?"

"Not with me, that's for sure."

"Could you tell us why?"

"Well, Marissa has done some wild things, like her drinking, and she's always seemed to unreasonably hate me. She even tried being a lesbian last winter just to get me mad! And when I found out about this, she assumed I would hate her, and left the house of her own will."

"Objection!" Sandy called out. "Your honor, this is irrelevant to the case, and untrue!"

"Sustained. Harrison, get the witness back on the subject of the case," the judge declared.

"Mrs. Coo-, Julie, what do you know about the case?" he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Nothing. Nothing whatsoever." She smiled.

Harrison shut his eyes and inhaled sharply. What was this bitch's problem?

"You may return to your seat," he said through clenched teeth.

Julie, unbeknownst to everyone, slipped out of the courtroom altogether.

"I call Marissa Cooper up to the stand."

Sandy stood up. "Ms. Cooper is taking the fifth, sir." The training for the last few days had been to intensive, she was cracking. Sandy had no idea if she could remember it all. One slip, and she had ten to life. She had agreed last night to take the right to remain silent.

"The prosecution rests." Harrison sighed.

"The defense may begin their case," the judge declared.

Sandy took the defense stand, and called Ryan to the stand. Marissa let go of his hand again, and examined her fingers. They had turned white from gripping Ryan's hand so hard.

"I'm not going to waste time asking you to recall the events of June first, Ryan." Sandy exhaled and swept a hand through his hair. "But can you please tell us how your brother got to know my client?"

"When Trey got out of jail, he came to live with me, and you and your family." Ryan began, and explained on account of the perplexed look on the jury's face. "I live with Mr. Cohen and his family."

"He's like one of the family," Sandy furthered his explanation.

"Anyways, so, Marissa met him, because he was my brother and she's my girlfriend, so he was trying to get a job and she befriended him and drove him to interviews and stuff." Ryan said.

"When you went over Trey's house on June first, what exactly were your intentions?"

"I was planning on asking him what the hell was going through his mind when he attacked Marissa." Ryan didn't hesitate in his answer.

"Did you expect that he would show you aggression?"

"In the back of my mind, I think that I knew that Trey wasn't going to be content with showing up being like, 'Hey, Trey, what's up, yeah, heard you tried to rape my girlfriend, so what's up with that?' Trey takes things the wrong way, and he thought that I was going to starting pushing him around, so he, in his mind, which obviously wasn't working right on account of the drugs, he decided to attack before I could." He paused. "Even though I wasn't planning to."

"Before spring beak, was Trey seeming to leave his old ways and become a better person?"

"In a way. Everyone thought he was getting better, because of him getting a job and a house. But not me. I knew him too well. He could never lead a life like that. Everyone kept saying 'Ryan, why don't you just believe him? He's not going back to his old habits.' I wanted to believe it, but I couldn't."

"Thank you. You may return to your seat." He did, and took Marissa's pale hand in his own once again.

"I call Summer Roberts to the stand."

"Summer," he began. "If you had known of the evening of June first what you do now, would you have still let Ryan discover the truth about Marissa?"

Summer took a deep breath. "There is no easy way to answer that. I would like to say no, but that's not true. If Ryan hadn't found out, he probably would have thought that Marissa was cheating on him, cause she kept acting weird around Trey, or if he had found out some other way, and the whole thing happened, who knows if she would be there to save him?" she finished softly.

" Do you feel at all responsible for the death of Trey Atwood?" Sandy asked.

"Yes," she answered quietly, tears rolling down her face. "Yes, I do. I'm not saying that Trey didn't deserve what he got or anything, or that he was a good person or something. But if it hadn't been for me, he'd still be alive, and my best friend wouldn't be on trial for killing someone!" Her shoulders shook as sobs wracked her body. "How would you feel, if you knew that something you did caused someone to die?" she asked, tears dripping down her face.

"You may return to your seat," Sandy said, giving her a tissue. She walked back to her seat, passing Seth on the way, who had been called up to the stand. He caught her eye, and smiled, melting her heart.

"Seth, I'll ask you. If you had known on June first everything that you do now, would you have still told Ryan the truth about what happened?"

"Yes," he said simply.

"Can you elaborate?" Sandy asked.

"What else is there to say? I knew Ryan would find out, I didn't realize that it would end up so bloody, but it could have been worse. If I hadn't told Marissa about the whole thing, I'd be testifying at Trey's trial for killing Ryan right now."

"So you're saying that you don't feel responsible for his death?"

"Yes. No. Huh?" Seth was confused. "I mean, I don't feel responsible. To tell the truth, I feel a bit heroic for getting Marissa to go out there and save Ryan, to tell the truth."

"Thanks, Seth. You can be seated."

He returned to his chair between Summer, who was still shedding a few tears, and his mom, who had remained emotionless all day.

"The prosecution will begin its closing statements," the judge proclaimed.

"Thank you, your honor." Yes. He had remembered. "The defense still claims that Marissa Cooper acted in a moment of courage, saving her beau's life. But really, as I have said, we have a girl who saw it the perfect opportunity to do it all it one- be a hero, and take the life of her attacker. But this will not go without punishment. No matter what Trey Atwood had previously done to her, she still was not in the correct judgment to kill him. She is a threat to society, and could become much worse if he is not put away for a minimum of twenty years. Perhaps some time in a jail cell will set her straight." He took a gleeful delight in that last phrase, knowing very well about Marissa's short-lived relationship with Alex.

Sandy took the stand for his closing statement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your honor, the prosecution, after five hours of testimony-including lunch- is still misguided when it comes to Marissa Cooper. A threat to society? Marissa simply acted to save another. She is someone who _protected_ society, not threatened it. She didn't go out on the street and point a gun in someone's face. In elementary school, teachers tell their students to tell an authority when they see a student being picked on or beaten up. Marissa, who is obviously out of her grammar school days, didn't have time to contact the police. By then Ryan would be dead. So she did the only thing she could. We all must make sacrifices to get ahead in life. This, unfortunately, was a necessary sacrifice that had to be made."

"The jury will now deliberate on the fate of Marissa Cooper. You are all expected to be here, tomorrow morning, at 10:15 AM, to hear whether the jury has made its decision yet. Court is dismissed."

Marissa had been up all night. _'… the fate of Marissa Cooper…. The fate of Marissa Cooper…'_ had echoed in her head for the last ten hours. Now it was 9:30, the next morning, and Marissa was getting ready to go back to court.

The one thing on her mind, besides her fate, was her mother's testimony. How could she have done that? Her own mom, Julie Cooper-Nichol, may have just sealed her destiny. If she was found guilty…. She shuddered. She could never forgive her mother. Ever. This was worse than kicked her out. She laughed aloud. At least her mom didn't know about the baby.

The baby. What was she going to do about the baby if she was sentenced to prison? She couldn't have her child be born in the Orange County Jail, that was for sure.

They arrived at the courthouse in much the same manner as yesterday, photographers and news reporters seeming to swarm all over the building. She shielded her face from them, her head buried in Ryan's shoulder, as they made their way back to Courtroom 1110.

At precisely 10:15, the judge (Marissa still didn't know her name) swept into the room, as everyone rose.

"Be seated."

A member of the jury, a Caucasian woman, scurried out from a room behind the stands and whispered something in her ear.

"The jury has decided."

All twelve members filed out of that room, looking like they hadn't seen sunlight since yesterday morning. Marissa reminded herself they probably hadn't. Everyone stood up, Marissa clinging onto Ryan's hand.

"We the jury," the woman read of a sheet of paper. "find Marissa Cooper-"

A/N: HAHAHAHAHA! I'm not letting you hear the verdict! Hahahahahahaha! God, I am so evil. And I am NOT doing this just to get reviews. Okay, maybe I am just a little bit. Like 5. Maybe 10. Anyways, I'm mostly doing that just to watch you all be pissed at me. Please review and let me know whether you want to smack me or not for that little cliffhanger. Thank ya!


	9. Press Conference

A/N: Dude, you guys rock! I was like, I really want to get past 30 reviews and you got me all the way to 40! That's ten more than I was anticipating! You all kick major effing ass! You guys made my day, and thank you all sooooooooooooo much. Keep it up! When you all review, I get into 'yay happy review' mode and I like, immediately start the next chapter…which means… faster updates! For all of you confused: reviewsfast updates. Also, this chapter (besides the verdict) is a little bit fluffy. No drama, for once in this story , lol.

Lobs-StAcEy-Ters: Thank you so much for pointing those errors out. I was typing fast, trying to get all 10 pages done in one sitting (which didn't happen), and wasn't thinking. The whole Summer calling her Riss thing, see, my name is Marissa, and my friends call me Riss, so there you go. I reread it then and I was like, That doesn't sound right, but I really have to write more before Mom kicks me off the computer. So there you go. The think about him calling him Ry, I dunno, we already saw how sucky of a witness Seth is, lol. And I could personally like totally see Julie not saving her daughter. She's totally a cold-hearted bitch, in my view. I'm not trying to make excuses about any of this, just trying to explain what I was thinking a lil bit. I fixed Summer and Seth's nickname thing.

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, you know the drill. I do not own the O.C, never have, never will, but I own whatever I write. I don't really think anyone's gonna steal a fanfiction, though, so that was just kinda pointless. Whatev.

"We the jury," the woman read off a sheet of paper. "find Marissa Cooper not guilty on the count of manslaughter."

Her clutch on Ryan's hand immediately released. "Oh my God," she said quietly.

Summer was up on her feet, dancing around excitedly. "Oh, my God, Coop, did you hear? You won! You won!"

"Yeah, I heard." Marissa said distractedly, watching as Summer began hugging everyone in sight. "Did you hear, Seth?"

"How could I not?"

"Shut up, stupid." Summer pulled him up to his feet and threw her arms around him. "She's free! Coop's free!" She let go and ran up to Kirsten and Sandy ("Did you hear?")

Ryan stood up, and Marissa followed suit.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course, I'm really happy," she said emotionlessly.

"You don't sound like it."

"I am, I'm just kind of… having trouble grasping things. It all happened so quickly…" She smiled up at him, hoping to convince him of her happiness.

"If you say so…."

They walked over to Sandy and Kirsten, who were looking amused at the still ecstatic Summer.

"Thanks." Marissa said to Sandy. "You saved my life."

Sandy grinned. "Anytime, kid."

Seth put an arm around Summer's shoulder. "Summer, calm down. It is way too early in the morning to bounce around like we have springs in our feet."

"Seth, my best friend just got acquitted of murder. Manslaughter. Whatever. I have the right to be happy!"

"Why don't we go out to celebrate?" Sandy suggested.

"Sure," Seth said, with a glance at Summer, "but please, nothing with sugar in it."

"Seth, I am not hyper. I am happy. Sugar will not have an effect on me." Summer rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Sure."

"It's true!"

The couple continued to bicker, until they stepped out of the courtroom doors, and were immediately blinded by the flash of photographer's cameras.

"Marissa! Tell us, how does it feel to be free?" A microphone was shoved under her nose.

"Marissa! Do you think that you should have testified?" Another microphone was waiting at her mouth.

"Marissa? Was it frightening, being on trial?"

"Marissa!"

"Marissa!"

She started to walk away, but they kept calling her name. "Marissa! Marissa!"

She turned around sharply. "What!"

Sandy cleared his throat. "What Ms. Cooper means to say is, she'd be happy to answer all your questions in a few minutes.

Marissa waited on a bench outside the copy room for about ten minutes, until Sandy ushered her into a room that she had never seen. A long table filled most of it, and reports sat squished on little chairs, up and down each side of the table. She noticed at the back of the room, Summer was posing for a shot from the cameramen, and talking to some reporters at the same time. ("Marissa and I have been best friends forever.") Seth and Ryan were looking equally uncomfortable, standing awkwardly on the side of the room, talking in whispered sentences.

Sandy motioned for her to take the seat at the head of the table.

"Um, hi," she said, sitting down. "Sandy, what is this?"

"I guess if you stretched it, you could call it a press conference. Just answer whatever they ask you."

Marissa had been unhappy with the fact that news people were following her all over the courtroom, and she wasn't overjoyed at the fact that she would have to actually talk to them.

"Marissa," one reporter called, standing up. "Were you surprised that your mother testified against you?" He pointed his microphone at her.

"Um," she said. "I guess."

"Could you elaborate?"

"I was surprised that that she testified at all, but I can't say that I was surprised that she wasn't on my side." She hurried her answer; this was not something that she wanted to last a long time.

"Ms. Cooper." Another reporter stood up as the last one sat down. "Is your boyfriend upset with you, for killing his brother?"

Reporters sure don't beat around the bush, she thought, as she replied that no, Ryan was not angry with her.

The news conference last, to Marissa's displeasure, about an hour and a half. Just when she would think that they couldn't possibly have another question to ask her, they did. Of course.

Finally, after answering that no, she didn't believe in capital punishment, they ran out of things to ask her, and slowly left.

Summer appeared by her side. "That was fun!" she said brightly.

Marissa rolled her eyes. "I'm hungry," she said, realizing that she hadn't eaten dinner last night or breakfast this morning.

"Me too. I'm starved." Seth said.

"Cohen, you had like, three bagels and a banana this morning. How could you possibly eat any more?"

Seth draped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "See, Summer, you are a girl."

"No shit."

"Girls," Seth continued, as if he hadn't heard her. "always eat as little as possibly so they can stay ridiculously skinny, or whatever. We men, we eat when we feel like it. Which is often. Like now."

"Since when are you a man?"Summer scoffed.

"Ever since I was thirteen. When I had my Bar Mitzvah, I became a man. Which mean I can eat whenever I want. Let's go find food!"

The rest of the summer went as normally as one could expect a group of teens about to start their senior year in high school, specifically a pregnant girl who just got acquitted of murder, a not-pregnant girl who was _going_ to have to be acquitted of murder if her boyfriend mentioned his stupid new video game with the Death Cab soundtrack one more time, a boy who was trying to avoid having to shop with his girlfriend for baby clothes and furniture, and a boy who sat on his ass all day and played an talked about his new video game with the Death Cab soundtrack.

In mid-August, Marissa took Summer to her first doctor appointment for the baby, where they discovered Marissa had a healthy child growing in her. She refused to know the gender of the baby, although she let the doctor tell Summer the sex of the child.

The day before they were to head back to school, Marissa studied herself in the mirror. She hadn't really begun to show yet, after all she was only three months pregnant, but if someone were to get suspicious… she didn't want to start out they year being known as a slut. She wasn't sure how she would handle it when she really started to show: she had never been alone in her life. From the day she stepped into preschool, she had been known as one of The Group. She had always wondered, though, if things would have turned out differently if she hadn't smushed her chocolate cake into Michael Reynolds face however. No one liked him back then, and he had dropped out of school last year. Marissa knew if it hadn't been for her, he would have never been pegged as an outcast. She felt awful about it now; it was such a bitchy thing to do. Her stomach hurt just thinking about it.

She realized, ten minutes later, after coming out from puking her brains out in the bathroom, that that may have not been the reason she was feeling nauseous.

Kirsten, who had recently arrived back from the facility for good, put a motherly arm around her shoulder as she wiped her mouth with a Kleenex.

"Welcome to morning sickness," she said sympathetically.

"That's stupid. It's four o'clock in the afternoon. That's not morning. They should call it all day sickness, or something." Marissa groaned. "This is going to suck. Throwing up is disgusting."

Kirsten sighed. She hadn't initially supported Ryan and Marissa's decision to keep their child, but as they had predicted, she respected it, and had been helping the inexperienced Marissa with baby shopping. "Want a Tylenol?" she asked. She remembered from when Marissa was a little girl that throwing up gave her a huge headache.

"Yeah," Marissa gave Kirsten a weak smile.

When she returned with the medicine, Marissa immediately grabbed the pills and swallowed them in a long drink from the cup of water she was holding.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Kirsten began to head for the stairs, but Marissa had a question.

"Kirsten?"

"Yeah," she said, turning around.

"What am I supposed to do if that happens while I'm in school?"

Kirsten furrowed her brow: she had no idea.

"Um…" she said, thinking. "I'll write you a note or something to give your teachers if you're feeling nauseous in class, alright?"

"Okay."

Marissa resumed studying her image in her mirror. Do they make designer maternity clothes?

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, and like skipping their whole summer. I was not about to write like, fifteen for chapters taking you all through the rest of June, July, and August. The rest of the chapters will also be over the course of more than a day per chapter. I'm aiming for somewhere _under_ a hundred chapters, LOL.

Also, I want everyone to help me think up baby names. Put your suggestions in your reviews, please. Give me boy and girl's names because want the gender to be a surprise. Who knows, maybe I'll see a name I like so much that I'll switch the kid's gender and use that name. If I pick yours you get… a free car! LOL, just kidding. I'll think of something.


	10. Why Do You Care What These People Think?

**A/N: Oh my God, I have fifty reviews! I'm so happy! My Internet has been down all day and I checked it as I was on the phone with my best friend, and I was like "oh my god! Oh my god!" and she was thought I was retarded. Maybe I am. I dunno. Anyways, huge major effing shout-out to all my reviewers! I love you all! I had a sucky day today, and then you all made it not sucky. In response to Lobs-StAcEy-Ters' question, they are actually, in real life (well, not real life… on the show. Whatever.) going into senior year. Josh Schwartz said that they were indeed going into senior year for third season. I know that the whole Oliver quote from first season was like totally misleading, but whatever. Also, there wasn't any college prep stuff last season, which would have been weird if they were heading into college. Anyways, yeah. So far, for names we've got, for girls, Autumn, Tawny, Emily Kirsten, Olivia, Faith, Claire, Madison, Samantha, Grace, and Jenna. For guys, Austin (two people said that), Evan, Trevor, Andrew, Tom, Matthew, Dylan, and Trey (were you serious?). Keep up suggesting names: they all rock! I have to say though, if I pick a name of a person I know well, I will probably unintentionally model their character after the real person. Example: I baby-sit a ten-year-old named Andrew, so if I chose Rainygal's suggestion their kid would be a kid who like, bounces off the walls. At two AM. LOL, but I like that name. You will have to wait and see what I pick. Gimme more ideas! LOL. And, as always, make my day and review :-D.**

**Also, BTW, in case you'll be confused, Marissa's teacher for World History, Mr. Smith (and by the way I own him. He's mine! **©)**, used to teach juniors but moved up a year. This chapter is rated PG-13 for somelanguage near the end of the chapter. I'm warning you now!**

Marissa took in a deep breath. It was time.

She had managed to squeeze into her lucky jeans, thank heaven, and had donned a new turquoise tank top from Delia's (she had picked it up after another countless day of baby shopping at the mall. They were trying to get her to buy it as the 'layered look' but yellow just wasn't her color.) Ryan had gone shopping with her that day, she had finally convinced him to come, on the guarantee that if any salesman at Penny's or Sears tried to sell him cologne (or worse, spritz perfume in his face), they were going home. Marissa didn't tell him that they were skipping the whole jewelry and perfume floor.

She wasn't thrilled at the fact the fact that she had only one class with Ryan (even less pleased that the class was P.E., which the school had decided to require this year). But for homeroom, he was right next-door, and was waiting with her, outside the classroom, holding her hand as she double-checked that she hadn't left anything in her locker.

She finally exhaled, as the final warning bell rung, on the firrst day of her senior year of high school,and let him go with a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye," she said, longing to dash into Biology with him.

He smiled at her, and headed in.

One deep breath and fifteen seconds later, she walked into class, and mentally killed herself.

Damn, damn, damn. How could she have forgotten? Mr. Smith was teaching World History, and it was _not_ a good idea to be late, even if it was thirty seconds, to his class.

"Ms. Cooper," he said, without looking up from his desk. "You're late."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I was talking to Ryan."

Excuses didn't work either. Damn.

"Ms. Cooper, I really don't care. You are late, therefore, you get a detention." He blew on his fingernails.

"It was only thirty seconds!" she protested, her temper rising.

"Do you want to make it two?"

She was on the verge of tears. "No," she muttered, and quickly took the nearest seat.

"All right then. I hope you have learned your lesson, although I sincerely doubt that you have. Today's assignment"- he rapped the chalkboard with his pointer stick- "is mainly review, on none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. I'll give you ten minutes to write down everything you know about him, and I want to see at least five full pages on everyone's desk about it, in three hundred seconds. You may begin."

"What an ass!" she thought.

"I know, what an ass, right?" a quiet voice said to her left. She turned to see Seth sitting in the seat next to her.

"Hey," she said, happy to find a familiar and friendly face.

"Detention with Smith sucks. I was in there so many times last year," he continued.

"Why? You were always around after school last year," she smiled despite the situation, "attached to Summer at the mouth."

He chose to ignore the second comment. "After the first few, which I got for talking out of turn, or whatever, I decided it was shit and skipped 'em."

She suddenly noticed a shadow fall on her empty sheet of paper.

"Ms. Cooper, is there a reason that there are no notes on your paper, with only three minutes left?"

_Well, duh, because I didn't take any, _Marissa thought. "Sorry, sir."

"I want to hear less sorry's and see more work." Smith tapped her paper. "Get to work."

He turned around and Marissa gave him the finger under her desk.

The rest of the day went just as well. After returning from the nurses office in gym from getting hit on the head with a baseball, she sat out, and talked with Ryan when he wasn't in the field or up to bat. He was upset that she had gotten detention from that "stupid little bastard," as he called their teacher, and said that he'd do something about it when he had Smith last period.

Marissa walked into detention, and sat down. She was about to start twiddling her fingers, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

For the second time that day, she turned and found someone she knew.

"Hey," Ryan said.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Remember how I told you that I'd do something about Smith?"

"Yeah…"

"I told him that it was my fault that you were late, and I took responsibility for it."

"And?"

"And he said if that was the way I saw it, he was fine with it, and gave me detention for talking in class and said you had to keep yours because I didn't willingly stop you from coming into class at the right time."

She couldn't help smiling, a little bit. At least Ryan was there. If there was one thing Marissa hated most (if you didn't include people), it was being alone.

Smith walked in, and rapped his knuckles on his desk. When that didn't seem to get anyone's attention, he walked over to the chalkboard and ran his fingers down it.

Marissa covered his ears. Ugh, what a repulsive noise.

"Detention has begun. For the next hour, you will all sit, silently, without moving."

Barely five minutes into the detention, Smith called her out into the hall to have a word with her.

"Listen, Cooper," he said, practically breathing down her neck. "I'm on to you. I know your secret."

"What secret?" she asked, voice trembling.

"Do you think it's not obvious? Cooper, you're pregnant. And Harbor doesn't need pregnant, murderous scum like you filling up classrooms. I suggest dropping out. Maybe attending… Orange County High School?" He smiled cruelly, knowing that OCHS had the areas highest rate of pregnant teens.

She fought back tears. "Mr. Smith, I am not scum. And I'm telling you right now; I have every right to be here. There is no rule against it. My tuition is paid, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Wanna bet?"

"And I'll also tell you that right now, my legal guardian is Sandy Cohen, who would just love to sue you for discrimination."

"Cohen… Cooper, I am telling you right now that you are not off the hook in the least. Go back, serve your detention, and prove to me that you aren't scum."

She began to head back to the classroom.

"And, Cooper?"

She didn't turn around. "Yeah?"

"One more time being late to class and it's detention for a month."

She rolled her eyes and went back to the World History classroom.

She noticed a note on her desk, and she grabbed it and put her hands in her lap in the millisecond that Mr. Smith wasn't back in the classroom yet.

As soon as his attention was diverted, she unrolled it, and found it to be in Ryan's handwriting.

_What was that all about?_

She wrote back, her eyes never leaving the blackboard.

_Smith, that fucking asshole, told me that because I'm pregnant, I should drop out of Harbor and go to OCHS._

She watched Ryan's eyebrows raise about three inches as he read her note and wrote furiously back to her.

_Are you kidding me? That asshole, I'm going to kill him. Who does he think he is?_

She knew Ryan _would_ probably kill their teacher if he got a chance. She had so downplay the situation.

_Ryan, it's nothing. Forget it. He probably is just jealous that we're young enough to have kids, that ass. He's got to be like what, 50? 60?_

She tried to put humor into the situation, hoping that Ryan would forget about his promise to kill Smith. Apparently, it didn't work.

_Marissa, don't even try. I'm not gonna kill him, although I probably should. Promise me you'll tell Sandy about this._

_I can't. He already spent forever trying to save my ass in court, we don't need to worry him anymore. I can take it._

_If you say so… but I'm keeping my eye on that guy. I don't trust him._

Marissa stifled a small laugh as she read his last note. Since when had Ryan trusted any teacher?

The hour passed surprisingly quickly, and Marissa threw the notes into the trashcan on her way out.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite make it in, and the white paper lay, crumpled up, about two inches away from the garbage.

Some kid picked it up, and announced loudly to those remaining in the room. "Yo, everyone, check it out! Cooper's pregnant!"

"What a slut!" someone said.

"She's so brave," another person remarked.

"I wonder who's it is?" a guy asked.

"Duh, it's Atwood's. Did you not notice that his name was all over the notes?" a girl haughtily answered him.

"So does that mean she's off the market?" the guy asked disappointedly.

"Hello, they've been all over each other for, like, ever!"

Out in the hall, Marissa stopped. "Did you hear something?"

"Huh?"

"I thought I heard someone say my name." She shook her head. "Never mind."

The girl who had been confirming the guy's suspicions about Marissa rushed out of the classroom.

"Marissa!" She ran to talk to her.

"I told you so," Marissa informed Ryan, as the girl stopped at her side.

"I just wanted to let you know, that I think that you're so like, courageous for having a kid. Like, people are saying that you're slutty, but you know I've always looked up to you, and I mean I would never do something like getting pregnant, but-"

A million questions were running through Marissa's mind, like 'How did you know that I'm pregnant?' and 'Who called me a slut?' and 'Why the hell am I courageous?' but there was one question that seemed top priority.

"Who are you?"

The girl blinked. "What?"

"Who are you?" she repeated.

"Me? Oh, I'm Katie Davidson, I'm the president of Student Council and the Environment Club, and I just got elect-"

"I've got to go." Marissa walked out of the hall in a daze, leaving Katie behind.

She stumbled down the steps, unaware of where she was going.

She turned, at the entrance to the parking lot, and was surprised to see Ryan standing next to her, holding her hand.

"How did they all find out?" she asked. Stupid question. How would he know?

"No idea."

"This sucks." She had reached Ryan's car, and he held open the passenger door for her. "I told you. I told you. People are calling me slutty. Everyone's disrespecting me."

"Well, didn't that girl back there just say that she's always looked up toyou?"

Marissa rolled her eyes. "She doesn't count. She's psycho."

"Marissa, why do you care what these people think?" He had always wondered _why_ popularity was so important.

She seemed lost in thought, as he backed out of the parking space and started driving them home.

It wasn't until he had pulled into the Cohen driveway that she had an answer for him. "I don't know."

"Don't know what?" he asked. He had since forgotten that he had even asked her anything.

"I don't know why I care what other people think."

He was satisfied with her answer, until she finished her thought as they headed through the front door.

"I don't know why I care what anyone else thinks. But I do."

**A/N: I just wanted to remind everyone to submit baby names, and of course, please review. Also, just wanted to mention that today I sprained my ankle (it's kind of embarrassing, but I did a grapevine in dance class and tripped over my own feet and landed on my ankle, therefore spraining it. I feel really stupid), and it would make my day less sucky, and help me forget about the constant pain in my left foot, if you guys reviewed. LOL.**


	11. Tis The Season To Be Jolly Or Is It?

A/n: Grrr… I just wrote a long A/N and then my Word shut down! jumps around yelling out swears). Sorry, LOL. Thank you all sooo much for reviewing! 60! Yay! Let's see if this chapter will get us to 70! I'm in such a good mood, I feel like responding to everyone who reviewed Chapter 10. So I will.

**Sea4Shoes: We klutzes gotta stick together, LOL. Which means… read and review! like you did last chapter (thank you very much!)**

**I-Believe-In-The-Butterflies: Have I ever mentioned that you won the prestigious 'Most Creative Penname I Have Ever Seen' award? Well, you have. throws confetti I feel bad for Marissa too, things are only gonna get worse… **

**atomiccounty: Thank you! I'm glad you like the story. I like Jordan, for a boy, too. I'm, like, drawn to J names for boys. I dunno why, but I am.**

**GallotMaster: Thank you! Thank you! I wasn't sure if I felt I did the trial well enough, but you obviously liked it, so I am satisfied (it was ten pages long. Whoa). I shall now go put on my best-trial-writer-EVER crown. Whee.**

**slimkay: Thanks! Glad you liked it. I surely shall continue it.**

**iluvryan: That teacher _is_ suspicious… I'm not sure if he will be making any more appearances, however.**

**IluvDanBen33: Thanks! My ankles, by the way, is much better, although I told my mom it hurts like hell and she gave me like four hours online.**

**kursk: hehe… she _may_ get past the teasing soon, but don't worry, trouble is brewing in the future of Marissa Cooper. Soon. Very soon. As in, this chapter. **

**Lobs-Stacey-Ters: You go to an OCHS? Cool. Is it Orange County, Florida? Just wondering. Hope I didn't offend you (or anyone) last chapter with that.**

**Dogsbody: LOL, love your description of Smith. We shall soon see (ooh, tongue twister) if Sandy gets him good or not. **

**WARNING: I am telling you now; you DO NOT have the right to kill me after reading that chapter. (You do have the right to review, however, and _tell_ me that you want to kill me but love my story anyways :-D)**

Everything was going to be all right, Marissa assured herself as she glued a cotton ball on her homemade yarmuclaus. Things would eventually turn out okay.

So far, however, they had not. Marissa had been 100 percent right when she had predicted what was going to happen. People _did_ whisper about her behind their hands as she walked down the hallway. She had felt like Rizzo in _Grease_ when some girl came up to her, and exclaimed loudly to her friends: "See, that's Marissa Cooper, the one I was telling you about!"

It sucked.

She was eternally grateful to Ryan, Summer, and Seth for their relentless friendship and love, but sometimes they couldn't even take away the pain. She had gone from Miss Popularity to Miss Outcast. The particular evening, of December 24th, she had been feeling down and depressed, and had holed herself up in her room. It didn't help that Kirsten, Sandy, Seth, Ryan, and Summer were all laughing and talking loudly in the kitchen, as they prepared for Chrismukkah (Christmas had, coincidentally, fallen on the fourth night of Hanukkah this year) the next day.

She had secretly been happy when Seth came to her room to force her out of her little retreat. She soon found herself laughing amongst the others, as they made yarmuclauses. Chrismukkah, she decided, was just the thing to bring her out of her microcosm **(a/n: microcosm means your own little world. Microlittle. cosmword. And I didn't make it up. It's in the spell check)**.

After about a half-hour, Seth tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Marissa, we're out of cotton balls and that little white fluffy stuff that goes around the bottom. Can you run out and get some more?"

"Why me?" she protested. She was finally having fun.

"Well, I asked Summer, and she said no, which I wasn't going to argue with, and when I said little white fluffy stuff to Ryan, he asked me if I was gay. So, that leaves you."

She heaved a sigh. "Fine. Where do I get it at?"

Seth shrugged. "Wal-Mart?"

She rolled her eyes, and grabbed the keys, kissing Ryan n the cheek as she headed out the door.

She was on the highway, heading to the nearest Super Wal-Mart, when she noticed the headlights. It was not unusual to see headlights at night, but the odd thing was, the were coming her way. She shrugged it off, thinking it must be a weird street lamp or something,

Fifteen seconds later, she realized that it was most certainly _not_ a streetlight. It was a car, a truck, on the same side of the road as her, but driving the wrong way. She tried to move into the next lane, but everyone was in there now, they had realized the mistake _way_ before she had. She looked left, right. Nothing. Nowhere to go. Oh, God, what could she do?

The truck barreled towards her, going a hundred miles an hour. She caught a glimpse of the drivers glazed eyes, before she squeezed her own shut.

8888888888888

Ryan was laughing at some joke Sandy had just told, when the phone rang. He picked it up, still laughing, not bothering to look at the caller I.D.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hello, may I please to Ryan Atwood?" a professional male voice asked.

He stopped laughing. "This is him."

"Mr. Atwood, I'm Dr. Fletcher, here at the Orange County Hospital. We have here a… Marissa Cooper. We found your name in her wallet and-"

"What's Marissa doing in the hospital?" He gripped the phone tightly.

"Ms. Cooper has been injured in an automobile accident."

"What?"

"At approximately nine o'clock this evening, Ms. Cooper's car was hit by a drunk driver."

"No." he said. This couldn't be true. No. No.

"We have her in ICU right now, so if you could please come to the hospital right away please, that would be good. It's urgent."

A dial tone filled the phone, as Ryan slowly hung up.

"Chino, what' wrong?" Summer asked. "It looks you just got hit by a car.

"Marissa." was all he said.

"What about her?"

"She-she… she was in a car crash."

Summer's eyes popped. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know. I have to get to the hospital." He grabbed the nearest set of keys and set out fo the car at lightening speed.

Summer ran to catch up to him, getting in the car as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Summer," he said, not taking his eyes off the road. "What are you doing." It wasn't a question.

"I'm coming."

He sighed resignedly. "If you're coming to the hospital with me, then shut your door.

She blushed and slammed the passenger side door closed.

"What did they tell you?" she asked.

"They said that her car was hit by a drunk driver, and I needed to come down to the hospital because it was urgent."

"Did they say… if she's awake?" She held her breath.

"All they told me is that she's in intensive care."

"God dammit."

No one said anything else, until Ryan pulled ferociously into a hospital parking lot space.

Summer was out of the door before the engine was off. They ran into the hospital and almost crashed into the receptionist's desk.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked.

"Marissa Cooper," Summer wheezed.

The receptionist clucked her tongue sympathetically. "Ah, the poor child. Saw her when they brought her in, I did. All covered in glass… and blood…"

"Was she conscious?" Summer waited with bated breath once more.

"Sorry, dear. I'm afraid not."

"What room number is it?" Ryan asked.

"They're not allowing her any visitors."

Ryan glared at her. "I. Don't. Care."

She gulped. "Room eighteen."

They sped down the hall to her corridor.

"Stop," Summer gasped. "This… is… room… eighteen."

Ryan stopped and opened the door.

They were not met with a pleasant sight.

About six doctors were standing over a bed, muttering things like "collarbone, alignment one twenty," or taking a pulse.

Ryan moved a few feet to try to see Marissa. It wasn't pretty. She was covered in blood, and glass, as the receptionist had warned them. Her arm was twisted grotesquely, as if someone very strong had picked up her arm and twisted it around about six times. One leg was raised by a pulley-type thing attached to the hospital ceiling, and the other was wrapped heavily in bandages, that had blood soaking through them. One eye was bruised black and blue. But it was shut. Her eyes were shut. She was quite obviously unconscious.

"Oh, my God." Summer uttered aloud, not remembering that weren't allowed to be in there. As if on cue, all six doctors turned and faced them.

"Dammit, I told Claire not to allow any visitors!" one cursed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ryan spoke directly to the one with the nametag labeled "Dr. Fletcher."

"I'm Ryan Atwood. You said I should come."

"Oh," said the first doctor, looking slightly disappointed. "What about her?" He pointed to Summer.

"I'm Marissa Cooper's best friend, and if you even _think_ that you are getting me out of her room until she wakes up, you are wrong." She glowered at them.

"Ryan," Dr. Fletcher said, coming close. "Could I have a word with you?"

They stepped into the hall.

"How is she?" he asked immediately. Dr. Fletcher began to speak, but Ryan cut him off. "Don't sugarcoat it. I've got to know."

Dr. Fletcher heaved a massive sigh. "Things… are not looking good."

Ryan breathed heavily, cursing Seth for making her go out at night, in her condition.

_Her condition._

"What about the baby?"

"It's… seeming pretty grim."

"Is it worse for the kid or Marissa?" He had to know.

"To be perfectly honest, it about the same. I'm going to let you know, right now: The odds of Marissa making it through the night are very, very, slim."

Ryan Atwood was not a crier. Atwood's did not cry. He had not cried when his brother died, he had not cried when his mother left, and he had not cried when Marissa got pregnant.

But now, a tear slipped down his face. He was crying.

He brusquely brushed the tear away. "What if she does… make it tonight? Is she going to have better… odds… then?"

Dr. Fletcher shook his head. "I don't know."

Ryan wanted answers. He grabbed the doctor's clipboard and hurled it across the hall. He slammed the wall with his fists. "Don't tell me that!" he yelled. "I need to know! And if you're not going to tell me, then I'm going to go find someone who can!" He turned away.

Fletcher called him back. "No one knows."

"What do you mean?"

"When I said I don't know, I meant it. We don't know. We can't predict anything yet."

Another tear ran down his cheek.

Summer came outside, her eyes red and her face blotchy.

"Did they tell you?" she asked softly.

He nodded.

She started crying again, her face soaking wet with tears. "What are we going to do, Chino?" she asked. "What if she…."

"She won't."

"How do you know?"

"I just do," he lied.

He went back into her room, and pushed the doctors that were crowded around Marissa's bed away. He sat down in the chair next to the bed, taking her hand.

"Marissa," he said. "Marissa, please wake up. Please. We need you. Summer's a mess. I'm a mess. Please, please wake up. For me. For Summer. For the baby. Please, please, please open your eyes."

Her lids remained shut, as he continued to talk to her. The doctors backed out of the room, leaving the two alone.

"I'm going to be right here, until you wake up. You have to wake up. The doctor said you might die. You can't. It's not possible. Two hours ago, you were sitting in the kitchen, gluing yarmuclauses together. We have to go make more yarmuclauses! We still need more! You have to help us."

Ryan spent the whole night, next to his girlfriend's side, talking to her or the baby. He didn't even realize he was tired until at nine o'clock the next morning, Summer tapped him on the shoulder, and told him to get some rest.

"I can't."

"I'll stay here."

He yawned, and noticed the cot on the other side of the room. "Okay. But I', not leaving the room. I'm sleeping right here." He raised his voice. "I'm here, Marissa. I'm not leaving."

He fell asleep in seconds, and Summer took his place talking to Marissa.

"Coop," she began. "I don't care how much pain you are in. You have to wake up. Right now. Chino will never sleep more than five minutes for the rest of his lie if you don't wake up. And I'm sure that you want him to be there for the birth of your child, and they will so not let him do that if you are in a coma."

No response came from Marissa.

"Marissa. If you die, I will personally kill Seth for making you go out. And I really, really, really do not want to have to kill him. So wake up."

Kirsten, Sandy, and Seth were waiting in the (surprise!) waiting room.

Sandy was pacing back and forth, while Kirsten cried into a Kleenex, and Seth uncomfortably read a magazine article on how good broccoli is for your colon.

"Do you think she'll wake up soon?" Seth asked, after reading the colon article sixteen and a half times.

The receptionist answered his question. "Oh, no, dear, not for a while yet. Why, those poor children who came in last night looking for her, they must have been so disappointed when they found out about her coma."

"She's in a coma?" Kirsten exclaimed.

"Well, naturally, usually after a life-threatening injury like that, the body shuts down, and-"

"When's she gonna be up?"

"Anytime from now to a few years," the receptionist replied.

"A few years!" Seth shouted. "Are you kidding me?"

"Shh, Seth, lower your voice, people are staring." Kirsten chastised. "Sandy, will you go with me downstairs? I'm hungry."

Sandy nodded, and they left the room.

"Get some broccoli!" Seth yelled after them. "It's good for your colon!"

His words had barely disappeared into the air when Summer came down the hall, her hair messy, her eyes red.

"Hey," he said softly, as she sat down next to him. "Are you okay?"

"No, Seth, my best friend is practically dead, and I'm fine. Just peachy," she said, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm sorry," was the best he could offer.

"You better be, you ass!" she said, poking him in the chest. "It's your damn fault!"

He sighed. He knew that Summer would feel that the blame lay on him.

"I'm sorry," he said again, and Summer buried her head in his shoulders and cried.

A group of men wearing scrubs ran across the room, yelling things to eah other in doctor-language.

"What was that?" Seth asked the receptionist.

She looked worried. "The patient in room eighteen stopped breathing."

"Holy shit," Summer breathed.

"What?" Seth asked.

"That's Coop."

**A/n: Whee! Cliffhanger! I love it. does cliffy dance. Will Marissa live? Will sheh ave the baby? Will the Range Rover ever be driveable again? Did the Cohen's get broccoli? (it's good for your colon, you know) Find out all of this and more in the next chapter of The Difference!**


	12. Leaving And Coming Back To The Hospital

A/N: Yes! Yes! 3 chapters in a row with at least 10 reviews each! I love you guys!

IMPORTANT NOTE:

I have decided to, _in addition to The Difference_, start a new story. Don't worry: This will still be updated! I'm not done with it! I've decided to try my hand at horror, so to all my loyal fans (I love you guys!) out there, be on the lookout for _One By One_, coming soon to a website near you.

She looked worried. "The patient in room eighteen stopped breathing."

"Holy shit," Summer breathed.

"What?" Seth asked.

"That's Coop."

"Oh, my God," Seth said softly, finally dropping the article on broccoli and its effect on his colon. "Are you serious?"

"Cohen, why would I joke about something like that? Do you think I would find it _funny_ to make that up? Do you think I would _laugh_ at it?" She glared at him.

"Okay. Okay! Sorry! Let's go." He stood up, and pulled her to her feet, and they rushed off to room eighteen.

Yet again, no one noticed the two intruders sneaking in. It seemed like everyone with a medical degree within a mile radius was in Marissa's room, trying desperately to get her to inhale again. She had an oxygen mask, like the kind you would see on an airplane, covering her mouth, and a bunch of wires were running to different machines. Ryan was sitting in a chair, looking helpless, as the doctors franticly tried to revive her.

Dr. Fletcher sighed and turned to thee three of them.

"This," he began, "is quite an odd condition. Marissa's heart is beating, but she is not breathing. It seems that the reason for this, is the coma."

"So what does that mean?" Summer asked desperately.

"It means, if she doesn't wake up within-" he glanced at his watch "-I'd give it fifteen minutes, we'll lose her."

"And the baby?"

"That, too."

"We'll do it." Ryan spoke up.

"Pardon?" Dr. Fletcher looked unamused.

"We'll wake her up. Your machine's won't do it."

"I highly doubt-"

"Listen, buddy, if you don't take your doctors out of there right now, I'll-" Summer was fuming,

Fletcher backed off, and called the staff out of there.

They knelt by her bed.

"Marissa?" Ryan called.

"Coop?"

Seth had turned a magnificent shade of green the moment he had seen the extent of Marissa's injury's, nevertheless he called to her too.

Summer pulled something out of her purse, and began to brush her friend's hair. Ryan just held her hand,

Twelve minutes passed and the teenagers had tried everything they could think of to bring her back.

Ryan wasn't quitting yet, though. He leaned across the hospital bed and softly kissed Marissa on the lips.

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She was sitting on the grass, staring up at the sky. She was vaguely aware that Ryan was next to her, urgently tugging on her arm, but she didn't care. The sky was so blue. It was so nice out. She was free. She had no responsibilities. It was so warm! Pity there wasn't a lake around there, so she could dive in, and cool off.

After what seemed like forever, the sky didn't seem so blue, and it had gotten chilly out. Maybe she should find out what Ryan wanted.

She turned to him, and tried to hear what he was saying, but why was it so difficult? He was calling her name, over and over, sounding like he would die if she didn't respond.

She opened her mouth to answer, but no words could come out. What was wrong with her?

At once, the scene changed, and she was underwater. She supposed there _was_ a lake after all. She stopped to enjoy the view- what lovely fish! - when she remembered.

She couldn't breathe.

There was no air.

She needed oxygen.

She began to swim, as fast as she could, to the surface. Ryan was up there, she could see, and so was Summer and Seth. Even more incentive to get to the shore!

But the more she swan, the farther down she sank. She needed air, she needed it, she couldn't last that much longer without it.

She attacked the water, pushing it away with such effort. Her arms hurt, and so did her legs, even an eye was in pain, but she didn't care. She had to get to the surface, she had to get to Ryan.

Yes! She was there at the shore! She had done it!

She felt something warm on her lips, and with one last effort, opened her eyes.

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Ryan stared at Marissa.

She stared back.

"Marissa?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Oh, my God." Summer said. "Oh, my God."

She felt herself being wrapped in a massive hug, by three pairs of arms.

"Ow!" she said. "Guys, you're hurting me!"

Everyone let go at once, as if she was a china doll that might break.

"Coop! You're back!"

"Where have I been?" she asked, struggling to sit up. She rubbed her eyes. "Where the hell am I?"

"You're in the hospital." Seth informed her.

And it all came flooding back. The yarmuclauses, the dive on the free way- and the accident.

"Am I okay?" she asked, not caring or even realizing how dumb her question sounded.

"You're going to make it, Ms. Cooper," an unfamiliar voice assured her, and she painfully moved her head to see a doctor standing in the doorway.

"I'm Dr. Fletcher," he said, crossing the room to shake hands with her. "You've got a broken leg and fractured arm, and one black eye, but that's it. You are very, very lucky. Your breaks aren't even that bad. With a cast and physical therapy, you should be back on your feet by the end of February."

"What day is it?" she asked, not knowing how long she had been unconscious for.

As if on cue, the elder Cohen's walked in. "Happy Chrismukkah!" they chorused.

Marissa grinned. "Guess that answers that."

"Anyways," the doctor continued. "You'll be needing some very minor surgery for your leg, and we can probably have you out of here on New Year's Eve."

"Thanks."

The doctor nodded, and left.

"Since you're awake," Sandy told her, "we figured that you might like these." A nurse walked in, carrying a precarious pile of presents.

She smiled.

"Go ahead, open them." Kirsten told her.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

She felt like she was six again, trying to set the world record for fastest unwrapped presents.

All in all, she felt that she had done well. A beautiful silver and turquoise necklace from Ryan-she vaguely remembered gawking in awe at it on one of their many excursions to the mall for baby gear-, a hundred dollar gift certificate to the mall from Summer, and, last but certainly not least…

She ripped open the small box, with the tag "From Sandy, Seth, and Kirsten" on it.

"Oh, my God. Are you serious?"

They nodded, beaming.

She pulled out a pair of gleaming car keys, with the name "Cooper" on it.

She grinned. "How did you guys get me a car key with my name on it?"

Summer answered for them. "No, Coop, that's brand name. Of the car. Not you."

She blushed. "I knew that."

"What kind did you get her?" Summer asked the Cohen's.

"It's really cool." Seth put in.

"We figured, since the Range Rover that we had given Ryan and Marissa was… totaled, they'd need a new one. So, what more fitting then to get the mini Cooper, a mini Cooper?" Sandy grinned.

"No way. You're saying that you guys got me-" she glanced at her boyfriend "- and Ryan a _car_ for the holidays?"

"Yup."

She motioned for them to come closer, and proceeded to hug the living daylights out of Kirsten and Sandy, thanking them a million times.

"How long have you known about this for?" she asked Ryan.

He smiled. "I helped them pick it out."

She kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

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Just as the doctor had predicted, Marissa went home New Year's Eve, where she stayed on the couch with the Cohen's, Ryan, and Summer all day.

After just a month and a half of therapy, on February eighteenth, 2006, Marissa was off her crutches, and finally able to walk again.

The only problem in her life now was the fact that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't identify the drunk driver who had almost taken her life. She tried to explain to everyone that all she had seen of the guy was his eyes- in fact, it might have even been a woman. People were slightly disappointed, and so was she, but there was nothing she could do about it.

February twenty-first was a day that made Marissa very, very, very glad that she had gotten off the crutches earlier. It would have majorly sucked if, on that Tuesday, she had not had full usage of her legs.

Because, on Tuesday, February 21st, just as Marissa sat down to lunch, something happened. Had she not been going to pregnancy classes for the last month, she would have thought it a side effect of breakfast, or perhaps just her stomach rumbling. But there was no mistaking it.

"Oh, my God, Ryan," she said, putting down her drink and facing her boyfriend. "It's time."

"For what?" Seth asked, munching on a chip.

"I think I'm going to have the baby."

"We know, you decided _ages_ ago to keep it." Summer rolled her eyes,.

"No, I mean, I think I'm going to have the baby _now_."

**A/N: Another cliffy. Smaller one, though. Look out for my new story!**


	13. We Proudly Announce The Arrival Of

**A/N:Sweet! I've gotten ast 8- reviews! Wow! You all kick ass! Keep it up!**

Ryan was pacing. His brain was so filled with thoughts that all he could do was think and walk repeatedly across a strip of carpet in the maternity ward of the hospital.

She was only about a week early. That wasn't too much. And the baby was healthy, thank God. He was allowed to be in the room with her, and he had been, but he was so nervous. He had had to step out for a bit.

He would be eternally grateful to the assistant principal, who hadn't been angry when Ryan called an hour ago and explained why he, Marissa, Seth, and Summer had cut all their afternoon classes. He had to agree, having a kid _was_ a really good reason to skip school.

He sat down, fidgeting with his fingers directly outside of her room. He heard her screaming in pain, and a doctor stepped out side of the room.

"Mr. Atwood? If you want to see your first child being born, I suggest you come back now. Okay Marissa, I'm coming!" the doctor said, as Marissa let out another yell.

He pushed open the door, and walked next to her bed.

She immediately latched her hand onto his; squeezing it so hard his fingers were the color of a piece of paper.

"That's good, Marissa, keep pushing, I can see the head!" the doctor encouraged her.

She screamed again. "Are you okay?" Ryan asked.

"What does it look like?" she yelled. "Shut up!"

"Okay, alright." Ryan had been expecting a response like that.

"Alright, keep pushing, you're doing great, Marissa, the head's out, you're almost done…"

**Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Ten minutes later, Seth and summer walked into the room to find Marissa and Ryan curled up in a hospital bed together, holding a beautiful little baby girl.

"Oh, my God, Coop! She's so cute!" Summer squealed, rushing to her friend's side. "Oh, she looks just like you!" She stopped to consider something for a moment. "And Ryan. She has Ryan's eyes."

Marissa just smiled.

Seth looked uncomfortable. "Um. Congratulations?" he said awkwardly.

Ryan laughed. "Sure, that'll work."

Summer kneeled down next to the bed and looked at the baby. "Hi- wait, Coop, what did you guys name her?"

Marissa's eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

Summer groaned. "Oh, no."

"What?" Seth asked.

"They forgot to name her," Summer said, rolling her eyes. "Just name her Summer Junior and be done with it."

"Um. Ryan? Any ideas?" Marissa asked.

"Don't worry, guys. I'm prepared." Summer assured them, pulling a baby name's book out of her purse. "Find something. Seth and I'll leave you guys alone. Call me when you've got something." She handed the book to Marissa and, taking Seth by the hand, left the room.

Marissa flipped open to a random page in the female section. "Ooh, I like this one."

Ryan glanced over. "Makayla? Are you kidding me?"

"I like it."

"We have to find something that we agree on."

"Fine."

About two minutes later, she nudged him. "What about this?"

He looked at what she was pointing to. "Madison… I like it. What does it mean?"

"Daughter of Matthew or Maude." She laughed.

"Well, I'm not Matthew, and I'm thankful that you're not Maude… but I like it."

"It also means," she said, "if it was for a boy, that it could mean son of a warrior."

"Could it be daughter of a warrior?"

"We can tell her that, anyways." Marissa laughed. "Do you want to find a middle name?"

"Sure," he said.

It took him about fifteen minutes to find something. "I got it."

"What?" She looked. "Azalea? Madison Azalea? Ryan, that's a kind of flower."

"It sounds cool."

"No."

After another few minutes, he tapped her. "I seriously have it this time."

"Okay."

"Olivia."

"Hm… Madison Olivia Atwood… MOA… Madison Olivia… I like it."

"Let's do it, then."

Marissa pressed the button on the wall for the doctor.

"Yes?" she said, appearing almost instantly at their door.

"We found a name, so if you like, need to know it for the birth certificate or something… yeah." Marissa trailed off.

"Yeah, I guess. What have you guys picked?"

"Madison Olivia Atwood." Marissa said proudly, and the baby her arms made al little noise.

"I guess she likes it," she said, beaming down at her daughter.

The doctor smiled, and vacated the room as Summer and Seth came in.

"I told you to call me when you picked it out. Why didn't you call me?" Summer tapped her foot impatiently.

"Sorry, Sum," Marissa said, smiling.

"So, what did you pick?"

"Madison Olivia."

Summer bent down next to the bed again. "Hi, Madison, I'm your Aunty Summer-"

"You know, you're not really his aunt." Seth interrupted.

"Well, I'm practically Marissa's sister, so that makes me an aunt, and you're her uncle, and you're my boyfriend, which would again make me like an aunt, so if you think about it, I'm like, a double aunt. Now let me talk to my niece!"

"If you say so," Seth mused.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, I'm your Aunty Summer, and we are going to be seeing lots and lots of each other, yes we are, and you, Madison, are so cute, and I know that you will tell your mommy through secret baby-language, or whatever, that I will watch you when your mommy and daddy want to be alone."

"Are you going to trust her with our daughter?" Ryan asked.

"Of course."

Seth looked shocked. "Why?"

Summer hadn't stopped talking: "and when you're older, we'll go shopping together, and get out nails done-"

Madison stopped her from going any father by letting out a huge wail.

"See, there _is_ a female on the face of the Earth that doesn't like shopping," Seth informed Summer.

"That was just a coincidence."

Madison, however, had not stopped crying. "What could be wrong?" Marissa asked helplessly.

"I dunno," Ryan shrugged. "Let me hold her."

She passed the baby to him. At once, Madison's tears subsided.

"Aw, she loves her daddy!" Summer said.

Marissa smiled. "Who wouldn't?"

**A/N: That chapter was so fluffy, I know, but it was meant to be. Congratulations to Sea4Shoes and IluvDanBen33 for suggesting, respectfully, Madison and Olivia. You win a free car! LOL. Just kidding. Here's some confetti. (throws confetti). The story isn't over yet, and there will be a bit of drama, remember Marissa isn't dropping out of high school, after all she only has less than four months left. So it will be very interesting to see how she handles school _and_ a kid. As always, review!**


	14. Two Months Left

A/N: Wow! I'm at 90 reviews! I think, that if this chapter gets me to a hundred, I will throw a party and respond to every reviewer from chapter ten in chapter eleven. And give everyone a free car!

Also, I changed Madison's birth date to the eighteen. We'll say Marissa got off her crutches on the fifteenth. Sometime this week, I'll go back and fix it in the last chapter.

**Unfortunately, whilst I am celebrating the success of The Difference, I am depressed about my new story, One By One. I got 5 reviews on my first chapter , and… none on my second. :'(. Not trying to sound whiny here, but I'm telling anyone who reads One By One right now that I will never make Chapter 3 until I get at least 2 reviews (wow, that's sad).**

**On a lighter note, this story is coming to an end. BUT (dadadaDA!) I am probably making a sequel. You may ask, why a sequel to a story that's under 20 chapters? Because, it would be very stupid of me to have say, chapter 15 be when everyone is a senior in high school, and then all of a sudden next chapter they're all out of college. That's all the hints I'm giving about my sequel! Review, and let me know if you like my idea of a sequel, or think it's utterly ludicrous and you would never ever read it, even if someone held a knife to your throat.**

**Disclaimer: What do I own? A hairbrush, ten bucks, some make-up, random junk that I shove in a dresser drawer, some clothes, and my dad's old 1960 something edition of _Sorry! _(the board game). Did you see The OC in there? Didn't think so. **

Ryan, Sandy, and Kirsten sat around the kitchen table, waiting for Marissa, who had gone to put Madison down to bed.

"Alright, I'm here," she said, sliding into a seat next to Ryan.

It was February twentieth, two days after Madison's birth. Although she had been a little over a week premature, she was perfectly fine, so they had let her and her mother go home the next day.

It was by a stroke of luck that today was President's Day- no school. Marissa wouldn't have gone, anyways, but it was nice to know that she wasn't missing anything.

Which was why they were here, at the kitchen table. To decide what Marissa was going to do about school.

"There's two months left," Sandy said abruptly.

"What?" Marissa was confused.

"There's two months left of school. Two months left until you graduate high school. Marissa, you have been working for that since you were five. It would be a shame to never get your high school diploma with less than seventy days left."

"I-" Marissa began, but Kirsten cut her off.

"Sandy, we know that, but it's impossible. Marissa can't take a newborn baby to school with her."

"So leave her here."

"Sandy! After raising Seth, you should know that a baby needs to be with its mother for at least a month after birth. What would we be able to when Madison gets hungry?"

Sandy's face turned red. "Oh. Yeah. You're right Kirsten. But there are ways of her getting her diploma and having the baby with her.

"And how is she supposed to do that?"

"Well, for one, she could miss the last two months and go back in the summer," Sandy suggested. "Marissa, what classes are you taking?"

She thought. "Um, World History, Biology, Geometry, and English Lit."

"See? It's easy enough to make up four classes in one summer. She has eight weeks, and each course is a four week course."

"But then I could only do two classes."

"But, each course is a half-day. So you could take, say, Geometry and World History in the first session, Geometry from 8:30 to 12:15, and World History from 12:30 to 4:15, and do the same thing second session, except switch those classes with the other two."

"Well, what I was think-" Marissa began.

"Wait a minute," Kirsten interrupted. "She can't do that."

"Why not?" Sandy asked.

"Because, the summer classes are going to teach everything from the whole year. Marissa knows most of it. She just needs to make up these two lost months."

Sandy sighed. "Damn, you're right."

"Um," Marissa said, trying to get their attention. "I have an idea."

"Marissa, forget it, there's nothing left to tr," Sandy said.

"Actually, there is."

"Okay, Marissa, if you say so."

"No, there is! This girl in my Lit class did it a few months ago when she had a baby. The school offered her this kind of tutor, I guess, who taught her the stuff she had to know at her house, and I guess that it worked really well, and she finished all her course work a few weeks ago, and is going to get her diploma at the graduation ceremony."

Ryan nodded. "I heard about that."

Sandy looked doubtful. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. You can call the school and ask. They'll provide a tutor for anyone who can't make it to classes." Marissa replied.

"But doesn't it cost money?" Kirsten asked.

Marissa's face fell. "Oh. I didn't remember that. But I think it does."

"Marissa, money is not an issue in the least. We'll do whatever it takes to get you to graduate. I'm going to go call the school right now, and ask them." Sandy said, getting up and walking over to the phone.

"Isn't the school closed today?" Marissa asked Ryan.

"Guess the office is still open, Sandy's talking to someone."

Marissa was about to go grab something to eat, when she heard the now-familiar sound of her daughter crying.

"Ryan, come with me."

"Where?" he asked, his mouth full of a waffle.

"Maddy's crying."

"Okay," he said, swallowing the Eggo.

They walked over to Marissa's room, which was half-empty, as Marissa and Maddy were soon going to be moving into the pool house with Ryan.

Maddy continued crying as her parents walked over to her crib. Marissa picked her up.

"Hello, darling. Mommy wishes that you could talk so Mommy doesn't have to spend forever figuring out what you want," she crooned.

Ryan laughed. "You need her to talk for this one?"

Marissa looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Take a whiff," he said.

She cautiously sniffed the air. "Phew, how did I miss that?"

He shrugged.

"Okay, Maddy, time to… let Daddy change your diaper!" she said, handing the baby to Ryan.

"What? No! Why don't you?"

"Because, Ryan, we have to take equal responsibility, and I sure am gonna get a lot of it while you're at school and I'm here with the tutor and Maddy, so start taking a share of it now. It won't kill you, you know."

"You never know."

After putting on the clean diaper inside out, then backwards, then accidentally ripping he tabs off, Marissa took pity on her boyfriend and fixed the new diaper herself.

As soon as Maddy was back in her crib, she immediately fell asleep.

"She's so cute," Marissa whispered.

He smiled. "She looks just like you."

Marissa kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

**A/N: Aww, how sappy. I'm thinking that Chapter Fifteen will sort of be an epilogue, explaining what happens between now and the sequel. So, yes, this is the last real chapter, I guess. It would be so nice to be able to go out of this story, my first story, with a hundred reviews. **

**But, if a lot of people say they think that a sequel would be a shitty idea, maybe I'll just continue with this and tweak the plot of the sequel so it could apply to this part. **

**So, you all know your mission. Review! Go! Go! Go! LOL.**


	15. Look Who We Find At Target!

**A/N: For all of you who were sad to see the impending conclusion of The Difference, I have good news! This chapter is _not_ the epilogue! It is part of the story! I may have another one after this before the epilogue. I realized I totally forgot to put a major scene in here that completely affects the sequel, so here it is. I hope you all like it! (Hint: For those of you that liked the way I wrote Jimmy and Julie, this should put a mile on your face).**

**Also, I just wanted to acknowledge that, as I was writing this chapter, I got an email, reporting Lil Miss Vixen's review, and I noticed that I was on her favorite, and alert, list for both my account and this story. The other people that have accomplished this feat (which almost made me die of happiness) are froggiezaz and iluvryan (who, also, has me on alert and favorite for One By One. That seriously takes the cake). You guys are the coolest _ever_. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize. This includes Marissa, Ryan, Seth, Sandy, Summer, Kirsten, Julie and Jimmy, nor do I own Newport Beach, California, Marissa's mini-Cooper, or Target. I do own the plot, Marissa's middle name (which _coincidentally,_ is the same as mine) and cute lil baby Madison. Hey, maybe I can get Maddy to work for me… she'll steal her mother's car and house keys… and that beautiful convertible and that colossal mansion will be mine! Mine! **

**And by the way, Target (or Target, pronounced Tar-zhay, whichever you like) is cool. I like it. So don'tbe insulted when Julie Cooper-Nichol disses it.**

Marissa had discovered that one of the most difficult things in the world was driving with a howling baby in the backseat. She had been pulled over twice in the last week for driving with one hand on the wheel and not looking at the road as she desperately tried to sooth her sobbing daughter who, apparently, was not a fan of car rides.

So, when Madison was about a month old and Marissa realized that they were almost out of diapers and she was the only one home, her initial reaction was to get in the car and just leave Madison alone.

And almost as soon as that crossed her mind, her newfound maternal instincts kicked in and beat the crap out of that idea.

So here she was, once again, her left hand at the wheel, her right reaching into the backseat, trying to calm Maddy down and not crash into anything at the same time.

Finally, she successfully pulled into the Target parking lot without being arrested. She grabbed Madison and hurried into the store. She was five steps into the baby section when she realized she had left her purse in the car. She scurried back to her beloved new Mini-Cooper, and realized that her even more beloved, if possible, Louis Vutton purse was not in the passenger seat, where she had left it.

She set Maddy back in her car seat as she crawled around the seats, trying anxiously to find her adored bag.

With much relief, she discovered it, fully intact, under the drivers seat, and gratefully set out back to the store.

This time, it only took her two feet inside the front doors for her to realize that she had left Maddy in the car this time.

When she was finally carrying both her daughter and her purse, she set out for the childcare aisle, which she found with remarkable ease.

"Alright," she muttered to herself, "Huggies gave her a rash… Luvs… to much money… Pampers'll work." She grabbed some Pampers and turned around to head to the checkout, but she accidentally smashed into someone, causing them to drop what seemed to be ten million pounds of makeup.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Marissa apologized. "Let me get those for you." She bent down and gathered up all the cosmetics.

"Here," she said, depositing them in the arms of… her mom?

"Oh," she said flatly. "It's you."

"Yes, it's me. Who did you think it was, Santa Claus?"

"I didn't expect to see _you_ in the baby aisle at Target." Was this really her mother? The same Julie Cooper-Nichol, who hadn't had to buy diapers in at least a decade, and at Target? Her mom always said that Target and Wal-Mart were for low budget losers that couldn't afford high-quality merchandise.

"It's a shortcut to the lingerie section. And may I ask why you are here? I suppose you're baby-sitting again. Are you really that hard-up for money, dear?"

Marissa scoffed. "As if I had time to baby-sit."

"Then what is _that_-" she pointed to Madison -"that you are carrying, may I ask?"

"Actually, it's really none of your business." Marissa brushed past her mother.

Julie followed her. "Maybe so, but I'm curious."

"What a surprise. Are you still sticking your surgically enhanced nose where it doesn't belong?"

"Are you still avoiding any subject related to your messed-up life?"

Marissa whirled around, getting a sense of déjà vu as she did. "Fine. I'll tell you. Then will you go away, preferably to somewhere where I'll never see you again?"

"I'll leave, yes."

"Alright, then. Mother, this is Madison. Madison, meet your grandmother."

Marissa spun back around, pushing other staring shoppers out of the way, as Julie's jaw dropped about a foot. After about thirty seconds of bewilderment, she rushed off in the direction of where she had last seen her daughter,

She caught up with her in the 10 Items OR Less checkout aisle.

"Excuse, pardon me, I'm with her, move please, I'm with her," she explained, butting ahead of everyone to stand next to Marissa.

"Oh, God, you're back again? Couldn't you _please_ leave me alone for once?" Marissa sighed, setting down the diapers on the conveyer belt.

"Marissa Hayley Cooper! You have got to be kidding me!" Julie hissed. "A child? You have a _child_?"

"No, I walk around with a living, one month old image of me on my back, buying diapers just for kicks."

"And I thought you were a slut back in June!"

This had crossed the line.

"Excuse me, sir," she said to the cashier, who was ringing up the diapers. "This woman has been stalking me for the last hour. Could you please get Security to get rid of her please?"

He nodded, and picked up his phone. "S47, we need you here in Aisle Two."

Julie, looking slightly frightened, vacated her spot in line, and headed for the front doors. "What a disappointment to the Cooper family," she muttered, just loud enough for Marissa to hear, as she walked through the automatic doors.

At once, an alarm went off throughout the store, and a huge, burly security guard tackled Julie to the ground. "You think that you can just walk out of here with half the make-up in the store?" he growled.

Julie immediately realized that she was still carrying the makeup that Marissa had picked up for her in the baby aisle. "Shit."

"You're coming with me," the guard said, pulling her arm in the direction of his office.

Marissa couldn't help but snicker at her mom's predicament. She had been hoping something like that would happen to her for a very long time.

Marissa was ecstatic on the drive home, seeing as how her daughter had fallen fast asleep. She put her down in hr newly relocated crib (they had moved into the pool house) and picked up her phone.

Her encounter with her mother today had reminded her: _Neither_ of her parents knew about Madison. As much as she detested Julie, she loved her father, and admitted to herself that he deserved to know that he had a month-old granddaughter.

She dialed the phone, and listened to it ring about ten times before her Jimmy's voicemail picked up: _Hi, it Jimmy. I'm not here right now, but if you leave a message, I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as I can_.

Truth be told, she was secretly glad that her dad wasn't there. She could only imagine the conversation. Hi Dad, what's up? Guess what? I've got a kid! She was not anxious for that to be the first three sentences he'd heard come out of her mouth in ten months.

The _beep!_ of the answering machine brought her back to reality. She decided to leave am message.

"Hi, Dad, it's Marissa. Um, I just wanted to-"

She was cut off by a click as Jimmy picked up.

"Hey! How are you?" her dad asked.

Damn. Now she'd have to tell him/

"Um," she began, wording her sentence carefully. "Good. Now."

"Now?"

"I was in a car crash last December."

"Are you okay now, honey? Is everything alright?" Jimmy asked concernedly.

"I'm fine now… but I was really hurt on Christmas. I almost died." She hadn't meant to put so much self-pity in there.

"Thank God you're safe."

"Daddy… there's something else. It wasn't just me they were worried about."

"Was someone else in the car with you?"

"Kind of."

"What do you mean?"

Marissa took a deep breath. He couldn't kill her from Hawaii. "I was pregnant."

Silence filled her ear. She could still hear her father breathing, though, so she knew he hadn't hung up. She was preparing herself for yelling, screaming, and a lecture on responsibility, when Jimmy began talking again.

"Was the baby hurt?"

Maybe he wasn't going to throw a fit. "No, Dad, she's fine."

"_She's_ fine? As in, present tense?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"So, I have a granddaughter?"

"Yeah."

"How old is she?"

"Just turned a month."

"Oh, Marissa, this is great! Why didn't you tell me? I would have flown in. I'm going to have to now, I have to see- what's her name?"

"Madison."

"Madison. Madison… Atwood, I take it?"

"Yeah."

"Are you and Ryan married?"

"No."

"Engaged?"

"No."

"Are you still dating him?"

"Yeah." She hadn't even thought about marriage. "But I love him, Daddy, and that's what counts."

"I know."

**A/N: Ahh! I had to spoil it with a fluffy daddy/daughter moment. Have no fear, though, parts of the sequel will be quite angsty. Next chapter will _most likely_ be the epilogue.**

**I am probably going to continue One By One, but right now I'm not really in the mood to write it. The Difference and whatever I call the sequel will always be my No. 1 priority. But for those (few) of you that read One By One, Chapter Three will be up. Eventually.**


	16. Epilogue

**A/N: Sob. Sniff. This is it. The final chapter of The Difference. I am insanely happy to announce that I got over a hundred reviews! I never, ever, ever thought that I would get there. I want to thank _everyone _that reviewed: IluvDanBen33, KC-Chick, kursk, I-Believe-In-The-Butterflies, froggiezaz, Carebear Stare, danhyde girl, emzylou, GalootMaster, absolut beauty, Ryan and Marissa 4Ever, dogsbody, MaDdY-SpArKlEs, kitotterkat, Lobs-StAceY-Ters, MalibuBarbie253, Mike Rules 2003, Sea4Shoes, Rainygal, Frida Vaccari, iluvryan, slimkay, atomiccounty, Marissa Atwood, rejectedang3l, and Lil Miss Vixen. I love you guys so much, and I thank you from deep inside my heart for getting me to 105 reviews. Also, I have another new story out, for anyone who likes Harry Potter comedy; it's called Making Friendship Bracelets For The Death Eaters. **

**I am going to miss this story so much, but the sequel, although with angst, will be good, I hope.**

**This epilogue is basically partially setting the scene for the sequel.**

**This takes place about four months after Madison's birth, making it the end of June 2006.**

Marissa was jealous.

This was not the first time that she had been feeling that way recently. Everyone around her was busy planning out the rest of their lives, and her she was, stuck with nothing to do for the next fifty years but watch her daughter.

Seth and Summer, she felt, had gotten the most out of everything: They were going to the same college, UCLA, in a few months. Seth could have gone basically anywhere else in the world, but he decided to stick with Summer. In fact, he had _really_ decided to stick with Summer: They were engaged.

And as happy as Marissa was for her best friend, she was angry, too. In a couple months, Summer would be heading off to college with her fiancé. Marissa wasn't going to college, or getting married. She had decided to not to attend a university, because of Madison. Ryan hadn't really decided yet. He had applied, and gotten in, to some architectural school in New York, and as much as she wanted Ryan to have a successful future, she couldn't help the fact that she was desperate for him to stay. New York wasn't an option for her, and if Ryan went… that was it. They both knew that Ryan had a choice: Marissa, or New York.

And it bothered the hell out of her that he hadn't chosen yet. It hurt that he could be thinking about giving her up, just to go across the country to study. He could go to UCLA with Seth and Summer, and that way everything would work out. But it was his dream to go to that stupid school in New York, and as much as she hated it, she wouldn't stop Ryan from leaving.

But she hoped that even if he didn't stay for her, he'd stay for Madison. Like it or not, _their_ daughter was staying right here, in Newport Beach, and she didn't know if she'd be able to stand it if Ryan missed the first four years of their child's life. He was her _father_. Didn't he have responsibility?

She knew Ryan loved her, and she knew she loved him, so why was everything so damn complicated?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the object of them: Ryan had just walked into the pool house.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"Hey," she said, and by the look on his face, she knew: He had decided.

"I've been thinking," he said. "And it came down to two choices: either go to New York, and follow one of my dreams, or stay here with you."

This did not sound good.

"And what did you pick?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"What do you think?"

"You're gonna go follow your dream, aren't you?" she said, and a tear spilled down her cheek.

He wiped away her tear, and kissed her.

"Yeah," he said softly. "But I have to tell you something. Marissa, I said going to New York was _one_ of my dreams. This is the other."

He pulled a small blue box out of his pocket, and got down on one knee.

Was this what she thought it was?

"Marissa, I've loved you since the day I met you, and I love you even more, if that's possible, now. I'm going to ask you a question, and if you say yes, that would make my dream come true."

He opened the box, revealing a stunning diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?"

Marissa gasped, she hadn't been prepared for it in the least. She was about to respond, when something stopped her. Yes, she loved Ryan, and yes, she wanted to be with him, but was this the right thing? How were they going to live? Marissa didn't want to spend the rest of her life in the pool house. Ryan would have to support them, and she didn't want him to give up college for her.

Ryan saw the look of uncertainty on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Ryan, I love you, but... I can't marry you. We're too young! We'll have no money, you couldn't go to college, we'll have nowhere to li-"

Ryan stopped her. "I've already got it planned out. I'll take some courses at a community college, work some jobs-

It was Marissa's turn to interrupt. "But it's your dream to go out East."

"I told you already, this is a better drea, and I don't care if I have to work all day at Dominicks and go to college at night. We'll make it work."

"Have you considered the fact that we need some where to live?"

"Yeah."

"And..."

"And Sandy said that he and Kirsten would be more than happy to help us out."

"I don't think they realize how much they'd have to help us."

"Trust me, they do. Sandy said if he had to, he'd pay rent or mortgage or whatever for the next ten years."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Then..." Marissa looked up at Ryan. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

The tear that had fallen, it seemed, ages ago, was replaced by many, more, but this time out of pure joy. Ryan slipped the ring on her finger. He stood up, and pulled her to her feet. They kissed, and they knew that their love was real, and it was forever, and nothing could change that. Not fights, not more kids, not even Julie Cooper-Nichol could change the fact that Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood were destined to spend the rest of their lives together.

**A/N: I know that was short, probably the shortest thing I've ever written, andI'm sorry, but it did what it needed to do. You'll see what happens along the way in the sequel, which will take place about seven years in the future, when Ryan and Marissa are twenty-five. I hope to start writing it in the first or second week of August (in about a week or two) but until then I will concentrate on my story about random Death Eater antics, Making Friendship Bracelets With The Death Eaters.**

**THE END**


	17. Life Was Perfect

**THE SEQUEL TO THE DIFFERENCE, LIFE WAS PERFECT, IS NOW UP! SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN NEWPORT SEVEN YEARS LATER! MUCH BETTER THAN THE DIFFERENCE! READ AND REVIEW!**


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